The older I get, and the more I watch my kids navigate their own friendships, the more I realize how smart their generation is.

They see things we sometimes forget.

Recently, while at dinner for Family Weekend, one of my daughter’s besties said something that stopped me in my tracks:
“Sometimes you just gotta suck it up for a friend.”

Whoa, I thought. That’s good.

It wasn’t said flippantly or with attitude. It was honest and real. And I don’t know if she realized it, but that one sentence carried a lot of emotional truth… about loyalty, empathy, and a quiet kind of maturity.

There was real wisdom tucked inside those words. Because friendship isn’t always easy. It asks us to stretch, to stay, to show up even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.

To sit in the hard stuff with someone else.
Bite your tongue.
Make time to celebrate them.
Put your own stuff aside because someone needs you.

Friendship, like family, means sometimes you show up tired, or busy, or bruised by your own stuff, but you still show up. Because that’s what love does.

And isn’t that what we’ve always hoped our kids would learn?
That when life stretches them, they’ll choose kindness.
That they’ll put empathy into action.
That they’ll understand real connection means doing the hard, unglamorous, and sometimes inconvenient thing for someone else.

In a world that often tells them to put themselves first, I love that they’re also learning the beauty of balance—that healthy boundaries and selflessness can coexist. That “sucking it up for a friend” isn’t a chore.

It’s love in motion.

Growing up isn’t just about independence, it’s about compassion.
Not just strength, but softness.
Not just words, but action.

Less main-character energy. More ride-or-die energy.

Because at the end of the day, it’s our ride-or-die friends who make this crazy journey unforgettable.