The internet is filled with roommate horror stories. Most everyone has one, whether it was the one who stole your food, the one who never did their dishes or the one who just had really loud sex. Today, though, let’s think about the good roommates because hopefully everyone’s had one of those, too. I don’t just mean the roommates you get along okay with, although those are nice too, I mean the ones you genuinely care about even after you’ve lived with them.
Here’s to the roommates who are your cooking companions. The ones you’ll make family dinners with and laugh over glasses of wine. The ones who stand by their beginning statements of “you cook, I’ll clean.” The ones who are willing to be taste-testers for both the good and the bad, and especially the ones who are honest when your cooking is bad. Here’s to the roommates who don’t mind you baking in the summer because you’re trying to perfect a sourdough recipe, and the ones that keep the complaining to a minimum even when you’ve taken over the kitchen on a crusade to make 48 croissants. (Side note: I don’t recommend making 48 croissants maybe ever and have since promised my roommates that it’s something I won’t try again.)
Here’s to the roommates who check in with you, especially when the world gets a little too scary. The ones that will drive you to the store with them the night of a shooting because they know you don’t want to be alone. The ones who will stay up way too late into the night ranting about the state of the world and how sometimes you just feel helpless. Here’s to roommates you feel safe crying in front of, who know you well enough to give you advice when you need it and stay quiet when you don’t.
And here’s to the roommates who you can call your best friends. The ones that you wouldn’t mind sharing a birthday party with because you actually want to see them on your birthday. The ones that make grocery shopping fun instead of a chore, who will laugh at your overcaffeinated-yet-exhausted state but still gently push you to go to bed. Here’s to the roommates you spend hours in IKEA with picking out some new furniture and lusting after loads of others. Here’s to the roommates that will then spend hours helping you put together said IKEA furniture because, for something so simple, it’s surprisingly hard. Here’s to the ones who you still care about at the end of the day, and the ones who make a dingy apartment really feel like home.