Confessions of a Platonic Best Pal

Then Daniel met Adriana and did fall in love. Adriana had no problem with Daniel having a female best friend. Turns out her best friend was male. I organized the bachelor party, though I didn't jump out of the cake. Adriana and Daniel stood together under the chuppah, with me, the best woman, at Daniel's side and the man of honor by Adriana's side. The rabbi kept trying to move me to the bride's side and the man of honor next to the groom, but we kept slipping back to our real places.

Adriana worked during the day (like a normal person), so I would still be the one to drive Daniel to Emergency when he got too exuberant trying to corner the cricket in his house, fell and needed stitches. Adriana and Daniel hosted dinner parties for all the eligible men they knew, trying to set me up. And, years later, when I met the man who would later become my husband, Daniel listened patiently as I hashed and rehashed every word of our first date.

Let me say here that Adriana and my husband are secure and amazing human beings. Most people think that if a man and a woman are spending time alone together, then it's called a date or, worse yet, an affair. But Daniel and I both married people who were understanding and supportive of our friendship. I realize it was more than luck that things turned out this way: Daniel and I never would have fallen in love with the kind of person who'd have been needlessly jealous of our friendship.