See, that's what I'm talking about. You've been in a 23 year relationship and that SHOULD be celebrated! There are tons of examples of friendships that last longer than marriages, and there should be some way to publically declare peple being committed to one another...like a familial adoption ceremony. Rock on.

There is something significant about brotherhood and/or sisterhood. You can get furious at a brother or sister, but you can seldom get rid of them. You can actually even dislike them, but they're yours. Some part of it is the simple reason that they share a formative experience with you, another part is a weird sense of deep responsibility (at least I feel this as a big sister), and another seems to be that they carry/contain part of your memories (keeping them for you). But those feelings/responsibilites/etc. don't begin and end with blood. Friendships end, but family does not. 23 years your friend has been family, so you can fight or whatever and you'll still not abandon each other. That's a significant thing.

I live with my husband and one of our best pals. He and I been in full on screaming matches, and I would never abandon him, because I love him too much. In a way he can't even be defined as one of my "best pals," because the relationship is vastly different than that. I actually don't even think of it that way. He's my older brother in every way but blood. He would think all of this was complete idiocy, btw...which only makes me love him more.

Oh, and I'm sure when James is done with (quote!), "Prepping the fucking lab for morons...I hate my life and I hate you" (ah, love) he'll get around to rejecting me publically, which is all I ever really wanted.