Girlfriends

So...the man is out of town.

What to do...what to do. I know... watch old movies on t.v..... Eat more sugary cereal than I would EVER eat if he was here... work out..then relax doing nothing. Cook chicken for future meals but LEAVE THE DISHES IN THE SINK.

Oh yeah.... this is my life.

Tonight it's, "First Wives Club" a movie he would never watch with me . Never in a million years.

You know what though? That's okay. I'm glad I get to watch girly movies on my own. Tonight in particular I am missing my girlfriends. It's with a heavy sigh and a heavy heart that I am missing my top three.

I have always been a very quiet and introverted person. This personality quirk has not prevented me however from developing some very serious female friendships. I can honestly say that I would not be the same without these girls and there has never been a man amazing enough to give up for them.

Thankfully, my best girlfriends would never ask or need me to do that anyway!

My first amazing best friend was a girl named Krissie. She and I spent hours talking about what we would do with our adult futures. When I was 10 I was sure that I would end up living with her on an island that the two of us purchased together. I didn't know what a lesbian was, or why people might think it would be strange if I lived with her instead of a man. My best dreams involved only her...and the amazing things we could build together.

When I was 13 or 14 my best friend was Jolene. She provided the education I needed. I learned about boys, what to do with them, and what other people were doing with them. I learned that older boys were only after one thing and that regret could cut deep.

She was the answer to everything. I didn't want to live with her, but I never wanted to leave her. She was amazing. She didn't mind that I was shy and quiet. She didn't mind that I thought french kissing was gross. She didn't care that I was socially awkward.

For whatever reason she decided she wanted to be my friend. That was it. She was my maid of honor...and my champion when I announced I was getting divorced. She was my model of non judgement. She still is.

When I moved away and started a new job, my best friend was Carrie. By that time I was happily reading about conspiracies involving the evils of pharmaceutical companies. I loved anything natural, and preached about meditation, herbs, and the benefits of Reiki.

When we first met she was a, "more to the right" wing Christian.

I was soon to be divorced.

She offered to pray for me and I have little doubt that she spent significant amounts of time worrying about the fate of my soul. She talked about the devil and wondered out loud about the end of the world.

After years of more coffee consumption than should be legal, things between us evolved. Now she was the one actively practicing Reiki and tearing into new age books faster than I could recommend them. While she wandered down a path that was new to her, I realized that now I was the one questioning the nature of evil and re emerging into a community of traditional worship.

I brought her out and she brought me in.

Carrie and I were mothers. We raised children together. We ate breakfast together. We started a wellness studio together and eventually decided who we wanted to be independently of each other.

I am struck this evening by the very powerful relationships I have had with women. I've been lucky. I've found a best girlfriend to cry to, to pour my heart out to, to be imperfect with.

The relationships I've had with women have been more valuable than anything I could imagine.

Maybe women are different. I don't know. My husband doesn't seem to have the same need for a similar quality of male companionship. He and his friends don't do coffee or cocktails...they prefer to go out and shoot guns, or stay up until the early hours of the morning playing online video games while they...pretend to shoot guns.

My women are important. My relationships with these women have defined who I am. I am a dreamer, an innocent, a slightly scary entrepreneur. I am blessed to have companions that challenge me but also force my growth.

Who would we be without our girlfriends?

Where would we be without the people that know us best?