We surveyed 1,500 of you for our #BlumeBuds Friendship Campaign and it’s safe to say, we learned a lot from our community on the great range of defining friendship, what it can be and what it may look like. We’ve gathered a few of our favorite responses here to share with you. Here are some inspiring things people said about their best friends:
"my best friend was my maid of honor and she wrote the most heart warming speech with jokes and memories dating back from high school. she's always just a text message away and i can tell her anything."
"I could go on and on about wonderful things...my best friend once helped me move out of my bf’s house after a rough breakup. She left work early and drove almost an hour away & packed me up in no time and then offered me her couch to live on for about a month while I found a place (I had JUST moved in with the bf to & moved to a new city)...she never once made me feel like I was a burden & even cooked me dinner and sat with me while I cried many nights. So selfless and heroic in my time of need! I love her"
"Sent a surprise care package when I was going through a tough time."
"Surprised me with a whole day planned out and tickets to a concert when I was feeling sad after saying goodbye to my grandmother. Had other friends join too."
"As a new mom a friend dropped a full meal upon our arrival back home from maternity. Main meal, side, salad & chopped fruits!"
"I usually get sad around my birthday. So one year a friend snuck into my house at 6 AM to make me breakfast in bed and mimosas. It was very thoughtful and started the day off great."
"When I was rushed to the hospital in college my friends stopped by to see me at 2am to make sure I was ok. After being released, and finding out this information, I knew that I had a great group of friends from that moment forward. They were incredibly supportive."
"They went to my house at 12 midnight to surprise me for my 16th birthday with balloons and cake. It was 4 years ago."
"I was in LA for the VMA’s wearing a new dress, new shoes and new earrings. All of a sudden, I ruptured an ovarian cyst. I recognized the pain because it wasn’t the first time it happened to me. I was there with two friends, but someone else had driven so I had no ride home back to Orange County. This was a few years before Uber and Lyft were the obvious answer to my problem. I called a friend and like an act of God, she was supposed to be working, but someone asked her to change her shift last minute. She immediately got in her car and drove an hour one way to pick me up and turn right back around to drive another hour to take me home. I never forgot that and I tell her regularly how much that meant to me."
"Listen to me ramble and cry for 2 hours after the passing of a loved one"
"I am an international student in San Francisco. The kindest thing a friend has ever done was visiting SF during her America trip just to visit me for 3 days."
"I have a friend who always saves me food from group meals that I miss when I don’t have the energy to engage and be present with more than one person. He also makes and brings me tea when I feel especially anxious."
"Told me the truth even though it was hard to hear."
"My friends know how much I hate drawing attention to myself, so I won’t plan a birthday celebration but they plan a birthday for me every year"
"Gave me a shoulder to cry on after I was diagnosed with malignant cancer"
"I don’t think there’s one kind thing I could think of, I think there’s so many little things my friends have done to help me feel better, and all those little things add up more then one big thing ever could."
"Drove over 2.5 hours (one way) to surprise me to be there for me at my papa’s funeral. I had a special bond/relationship with my papa so going through the visitation and funeral was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. Her surprising me and showing up to offer her support was something I’ll never be able to say thank you enough for."
"She showed me compassion and love when I was going through a really awful time in my life. She became my best friend and helped me find my strengths and built me up to have confidence and trust in myself"
"Let me stay in their house for three weeks after a nightmare break up. I always feel like that's a burden for someone and it was extremely kind and thoughtful."
"My friend surprised me and helped me move into my first apartment that I lived in on my own. She drove 2 hours just to help me and it meant the world to me because I didn’t even ask her, but she made sure she was a part of a major milestone in my life."
"I got stage three cancer a few days before my 18th birthday my senior year and right before we graduated my friends would visit me one by one in the hospital when I was getting chemo done and it was the best/worst time in my life :)"
"One of the kindest things a friend has ever done for me is listen to me during a complicated time in my life. In the situation, I knew that there were things I could’ve done differently and that people around me would be affected in not-so-great ways. During this time, I found myself talking to so many of my friends just to vent and get all my thoughts out without interruption or judgement. Sometimes one of the best things friends can do is listen. Of course, I got a lot of advice in the form of tough love, which I also needed in the situation. I knew my friends only wanted the best for me, so I took every bit of advice in the best ways I could. Without them, I don’t know how I would’ve survived it all."
"When she saw me crying put cream soda and twizzlers in a bag in my door knob"
"Sent me a hand made card through the mail expressing how much she values our friendship."
"Called me every day for a year to check on me after being widowed."
"Supported my business, not with money necessarily but with sharing my work/my message, encouraging me and just speaking highly of me to others"
"I love when my friends just randomly call to check in on me and my mental health."
"Each year on the anniversary of my dad’s death my best friend sends me flowers to let me know she remembers and is thinking of me."
"Married me in 2001."
"The night before I was returning to work from maternity leave a friend brought over a bag of gifts including tissues, chocolate, a plant (so I have something to nurture at work) and a poem about working moms."
"My bestfriend surprised me with my favorite blume products for xmas this year!!! AHHHH love it so much! She knows me so well."
"Picked me up in the middle of the night after a car accident, stayed with me through the night, and then took me to the hospital the next day."
"Came to watch my kids so I could shower without a new born in the bathroom and a 5 year old running in and out."
"This past year my step brother died from brain cancer. One of my friends is in charge of raising a lot of money for her sorority for their pediatric cancer charity. She decided to honor my brothers life by raising money in his name this year. It means so much."
"A surprise birthday party was so amazing during nursing school."
"A friend knew I was struggling with my mental health and she just showed up. She came over, sat with me and treated me like I was completely normal. It was exactly what I needed and we never spoke about how perfect it was. She just knew."
"My best friend Megan skipped class to drive me and my cat to the vet because he burned his paw and my car was out of service. She literally dropped everything to help me."
"Travel hours to come visit me just because I said I needed a hug and I had no one to give me one."
"Stood by my side as my father passed away and always praying for and checking on me and my family throughout the grief process. Just being there and caring is the best thing ever."
"I don’t think she knows that this act had such an impact on me. When I was in a depressive episode, my friend simply sent me an email saying how much she misses and loves me. That really helped me to get better and strengthen our relationship!"
"My best friend helped me get out of a very toxic romantic relationship and took the time and care to show me how much more I was worth. Even when I was angry with her because the man who gaslighted me made me believe she wasn't a good friend they still stood by me and supported me through when I wasn't being a very good friend myself. Now I am happier than I ever was and I really owe that to her."
"I have a friend who I've know for 40 some years. When I was in the hospital recovering from a surgery, she drove over 30 miles to help me with personal care. (bath, hair wash etc.)"
"Just always being there no matter what and where. We’ve been best friends for 50 years now and loving every minute!"
"Organized a support system for me and my kids... When we were dealing with a terminal illness. They set up dinners, rides, activities, anything that could be thought up they did"
"Carried my daughter's casket, when my infant daughter passed away."
"When I was in a financial crisis, I broke down in front of my friends. Scared that I needed to drop out of school, depressed and later on that weekend. They asked me to hang out and they actually paid to have me over, paid for my food and that weekend we had a self care weekend."
"I was having a hard time near my birthday. I realized for the first time that no one was happy the day I was born. It was very hard. My friend, Lori, made a scrapbook of me with all of my friends. It had words of affirmation and little notes from everyone. She made it for me so I could look at it whenever if was feeling down to remember I am loved."
"My sister had major surgery and my friends took turns visiting the hospital and bringing my mother and I lunch everyday."
"Opened their home to me when I was having major problems that are extremely personal and she never judged me once just told me she loved me and that everything will be okay."
"There's been so much kindness, I wouldn't know where to start. Staying with me for hours on the phone thru losing my best friend, a handmade beaded portrait piece just to make me smile, inviting me half way across the world to recover from a trauma... I've got the best friends ever."
"Text me to say they're thinking of me"
What we learned from reading every single one of these 1,500 responses is that friendship is kind. Friendship is genuine. Friendship is being there for the highs, and equally for the lows. Friendship is everything in-between that. Whether you've known your BFF for a year or for 40+ years, keep your BFFs close and show you love for them, whatever love language that may be... even if it's just a text to say you're thinking of them.
Thank you for sharing these acts of kindness with us! Read more about our #BlumeBuds campaign here to learn what our community had to say when introducing us to their BFFs.
