+
upworthy
Most Shared

These 'platonic life partners' are ready to spend the rest of their lives together

platonic life partners tiktok, alternative relationships

April Lexi Lee and her PLP on TikTok

Most of us want to share our life with a partner who is our best friend. But what if that best friend isn't a romantic partner? Why should that stand in that way of having what most people long for? The truth is: Finding an enduring kind of love is special, and something worth investing in, even if it's not romantic love. And for April Lexi Lee (aka @psychottie on Tikok), it's the kind of love shared between her and her best friend of 11 years.

"This is for everyone who believes that their soulmate is their best friend," Lee said in her video urging viewers to "normalize platonic life partners."


@psychottie On some @cultclare & @jazmelodyy type shit. #platoniclifepartner ♬ original sound - April Lexi Lee

She continued: "My best friend is my soulmate. She's the platonic love of my life. She's who I choose to do life with. After 5 years of long distance, we finally manifested a way for her to move to LA [from Singapore] to be with me."

Lee posted another video of the two reuniting, and it feels like something out of a Nicholas Sparks novel. The two run into each other's arms for a long embrace, with the caption "what a long term, stable, healthy partnership can look like in 2021."

@psychottie Don’t mind me just romanticising my #platoniclifepartnership 🥰 @hotmilkwong #platoniclifepartner #bostonmarriage #tiktoksg🇸🇬#tiktoksg ♬ Home - Edith Whiskers

Lee noted that her friends and family called them both "crazy," to make such a big move, to which Lee responded, "we would not be questioned as much about this if we were lovers."

It's a valid point. We swoon over movies where the leading man makes it to the airport just in time to profess his forever feelings to a woman he's known for like three days, but somehow this 11-year relationship doesn't warrant such a gesture?

Lee argued that their friendship of more than a decade had lasted longer than most couples her age. And more importantly, they were committed to each other and shared a vision for the future. "We see a life together," she explained. "We wanna buy a house together, we wanna start a retirement fund together, we might even adopt a child together and raise it as friends."

Even though this dynamic is not seen as a traditional in our society, many have done it (and done it well). People were even inspired to share their own "PLP" success stories in the comments:

"I was raised by my mom and her best friend (mom #2). They love each other in a platonic way and do everything together."

"Me and my bestie are buying a house together this year. We have already lived together for 15 years."

"My boss did that with her friend. They even bought a house together. They're still going strong after 35 years. It can be done."


Not only does Lee normalize this relationship, she romanticizes it. Just look at the beautiful love book she created when their relationship status was still long distance. It's filled with cutesy cartoon images and funny heartfelt messages like:

"I can't wait for the day you finally come.
I'll share my space with you, and your many alarms.
To learn how to adult and how to survive.
To go on road trips with you.
I even look forward to you pushing my limits, because we know to be sick of each other is a privilege."

Seriously, find yourself a person who looks at you the way Lee does her bestie, platonic or otherwise.

@psychottie Reply to @psychottie we so cute and we out here 🤩 @hotmilkwong #platoniclifepartner #longdistancerelationship #ldr @LoveBook ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod

"My mind is blown right now. It just never occurred to me this was an option, and I love it and I want it!" wrote one person in the comments (um, yeah, same here!). This is why normalizing all kinds of healthy relationships is vital. We're better able to see what's possible.

The bottom line is: Romantic love is not king. As Lee put it, "If marriage is not for you and you want to start a life with your best friend, then do it!" What really matters is finding someone who excites and challenges you, who promotes a sense of health and safety, and who you're happy to "do life" with.

Excuse me while I go make a love book for my bestie.

The gaze of the approving Boomer.

Over the past few years, Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have been getting a lot of grief from the generations that came after them, Gen X (1965 to 1980), Millenials (1981 to 1996), and now, Gen Z (1997 to 2012). Their grievances include environmental destruction, wealth hoarding, political polarization, and being judgemental when they don’t understand how hard it is for younger people to make it in America these days.

Every Baby Boomer is different, so it's wrong to paint them all with a broad brush. But it’s undeniable that each generation shares common values, and some are bound to come into conflict.

However, life in 2023 isn’t without its annoyances. Many that came about after the technological revolution put a phone in everyone’s hands and brought a whole new host of problems. Add the younger generations' hands-on approach to child rearing and penchant for outrage, and a lot of moden life has become insufferanble.

Keep ReadingShow less

Klein Kwagga understood the assignment at his sister's concert.

Some kids are too shy to ever want to get on a stage, some will spend most of a performance staring awkwardly at their shoes, and some kids love the opportunity to show off what they've practiced in front of an audience.

And then there are the kids were simply born for the spotlight. You know them when you see them.

When Dirkco Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen hopped on stage with all of the other brothers and sisters of the dance students at René’s Art of Dance in South Africa, no one expected a viral sensation. According to Capetown Etc, it was the school's year-end concert, and siblings were invited to come up and dance to Bernice West’s Lyfie—a popular song in Afrikaans. And Dirkco, who goes by Klein Kwagga, took the assignment and ran with it.

Keep ReadingShow less

Prepare to get Thatcherized.

It seems that Adele is going viral once again.

Perhaps you’ve seen the image in question previously (it seems to make the rounds every couple of years). But in case you missed it—it’s Adele’s face. Normal, just upside down.

Only it’s not normal. In fact, when you turn Adele’s face right side up, what you notice is that her eyes and mouth were actually right-side up THE ENTIRE TIME, even though the entire head was upside down. So when you turn the head right side up, the eyes and mouth are now UPSIDE-DOWN—and you can’t unsee it. Do you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland yet?

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

People share the most practical ways to support new parents

There's a lot of preparation that goes into having a child well before they're even born. First there are the physical changes your body makes to clear up some space for a tiny human roughly the size of a watermelon. Then there's preparing the nursery, buying lots of extremely small clothes, diapers and an expected understanding that while sleep may be your friend, you won't be getting any of it for about a year.

Lots of people give plenty of advice to help you cope in the early days but after the baby arrives, the focus shifts to solely the baby. It's obviously not a deliberate shift. Babies are just more shiny and new that the parents. But not everyone forgets about the parents once baby makes their grand entrance–some go out of their way to make sure the parents feel supported.

Upworthy asked its audience, "what was the best non-baby related gift you received as a new parent," and the answers were a masterclass on how to care for new parents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

A mom seeks doctor's help for postpartum depression and instead gets a visit from the cops

Too many women lose out on much needed support because of unwarranted stigma.

Canva

Postpartum depression is very common, and treatable.

Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.

She had been dealing with overwhelming sadness and fits of anger, which she knew was likely stemming from a case of postpartum depression.

In a Facebook post, Porten recounts the story of that appointment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Identity

Formerly enslaved man's response to his 'master' wanting him back is a literary masterpiece

"I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters."

A photo of Jordan Anderson.

In 1825, at the approximate age of 8, Jordan Anderson (sometimes spelled "Jordon") was sold into slavery and would live as a servant of the Anderson family for 39 years. In 1864, the Union Army camped out on the Anderson plantation and he and his wife, Amanda, were liberated. The couple eventually made it safely to Dayton, Ohio, where, in July 1865, Jordan received a letter from his former owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson. The letter kindly asked Jordan to return to work on the plantation because it had fallen into disarray during the war.

On Aug. 7, 1865, Jordan dictated his response through his new boss, Valentine Winters, and it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial. The letter, entitled "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master," was not only hilarious, but it showed compassion, defiance, and dignity. That year, the letter would be republished in theNew York Daily Tribune and Lydia Marie Child's "The Freedman's Book."

The letter mentions a "Miss Mary" (Col. Anderson's Wife), "Martha" (Col. Anderson's daughter), Henry (most likely Col. Anderson's son), and George Carter (a local carpenter).

Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Keep ReadingShow less