“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new.”
Isn’t that a perfect saying from the great poet Ralph Waldo Emerson? I just returned home from an annual trip with a group of girlfriends and was thinking how lucky I am to be surrounded by these amazing women. As I looked further to find more sayings that would sum up my feelings for my girlfriends, I found so many wonderful and heartfelt quotes. Here’s a magical one from Winnie The Pooh: "We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?” asked Piglet. "Even longer," Pooh answered."
My first memory of close friendships started with the girls I knew as a child growing up and several of them are still my ‘besties’ today. But back then, we shared secrets about crushes on boys, which teachers were our favorites, and of course, complained about homework! Then came high school – one of the best times in life that further bonded me to these girlfriends for life. Tennessee Williams wrote: “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
During the wonderful years I was married to my devoted husband Aaron and had my children Tori and Randy, my girlfriends helped me maneuver the challenges of motherhood. We compared notes about advice from Dr. Spock, the best places to shop for toys and clothes, fun things to do with our kids’ brownie troops, and the trials of the teenage years with dating and driving. We shared many laughs and tears and all grew along the way. I think Jane Austen’s words express our feelings well: "There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature."
Now that Aaron is gone and some of my girlfriends have lost their husbands, too, we make sure to get together whenever we can to have lunch, go to the movies, play mahjong and continue to experience the joys of life. We’re also there to support or lean on each other during challenging times, whether an illness, a loss of a loved one, or just a ‘down’ time that someone may be going through. One thing I know for sure -- my girlfriends are my ‘rocks’ and I couldn’t get through life without them. Helen Keller said it best: "I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."
As I think about how much my friends mean to me, I know that friendship makes the world go ‘round. Charlotte the spider in E.B. White’s classic and beloved book, Charlotte’s Web, said it best to her friend, Wilbur the pig: "You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing."