My romantic commitment is one of the most important elements in my life. Decisions that used to be subconscious are now painstakingly run through an array of questions with the personal pronoun ‘we’ popping up everywhere. There’s a new gravitational pull when you love someone. A new need to be around that one person can almost equal, (and sometimes trump), the need for sleep. It’s easy to be swept into a bubble of blind bliss as the honeymoon passion of a new love beats persistently. The world prior, or in absence of that one new bed-warmer, fades.

Now, let’s get more logical here: This is how friendships are lost.

I find it painful and frustrating to witness the absorption of a friend into their boyfriend/girlfriend. Everyone has that one friend who disappears off the face of the earth once they’ve found themselves someone to love. They dive head first, replicating the classic clown on the high board above a glass of water.

Friends are as important to me as Sam is in many ways. They were there before my union with him, they’ll be there during it because I wouldn’t dare have it any other way, and no matter what the future may hold, they will still be there. I value and commit to maintaining my friendships. This is a promise I never had to make. Remaining in their lives was guaranteed no matter my relationship status because they are brilliant, loyal, fun people who not only make my life better, but make me better. To see how easily some people can disregard their friends existence while faced with love blows my mind. I will never get the opportunity to rely on the solidity of my friendships because I want to constantly stoke those fires with all the great attributes that my friends share with me.

Cheers to a year of keeping track.