Some of my girlfriends are like sisters, and some of them are like husbands. Some of them are 'work' friends. The 'husband' friends protect you and go to dinner and the movies with you. They remind you to get license tabs.
The 'work' friends know you intimately in another arena. They see you shine, they see you fail and they help you deal with stressors that sister friends cannot imagine. They too, deal with a huge part of your life.
All of mine are a big part of my of who I am. Many of them have been with me for years.
The best part about being around them is that you can be yourself and they love you in spite of it. They know your take on the world, they don't fault you for anything, they laugh at your jokes and they instinctively know when they're needed.
I think women treasure their friends more than men do. At least we're much more open about it. We remember birthdays and celebrate them, we know each other's health histories and worry about them.
I guess we all have different sets of friends. And I'm selfish enough not to mingle mine. I want each group compartmentalized, where they belong. Really, the only thing they have in common is me.
The sister friends are the ones who've been there the longest. In my case, this bunch have been a big part of my life since high school, some since grade school. We've grown up together, we're growing old together. We still call each other by our maiden names. Our children are the same ages as are our grandchildren.
They know my secrets and find them delicious. They razz me about ex-husbands, and celebrate my accomplishments. We celebrate each other. We never tire of old stories, we laugh as hard as we did at the time. We used to have dinner every Wednesday night and go canoeing every summer.
But that was before life got in the way, that was before fate stepped in and messed some of us up, too damaged by horrible things that changed our quality of life.
We've moved away, or we've retired, but we still pick right up where we left off, before strokes and heart disease and cancer reared their ugly heads.
We still have our summer trips, not as many, but just as rewarding, perhaps even more so.
I look around my circle of friends and I know that despite everything, we're all still the same. We love each other, we go to bat for each other, we entertain, delight and amuse each other. It doesn't get any better than that.
"For you, fair friend, never can grow old. For as you were when first your eye I eyed, so seems your beauty still."
Shakespeare sure knew what he was talkin' about. ~
1 comment:
You are right to treasure such a group, Molly!
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