Girlfriends

I received an email from a dear friend, Martina. What better way to share this then to post it on my blog today. I have some very dear girlfriends that I have been close with for many years. I have some that years can go by in our busy lives and we can pick up right where we left off. I have had girlfriends that I grew up with. I have some girlfriends that I met in school or worked with. A few were childhood pen-pals, some I met at camp. Some girlfriends I met through my kids, and some through the men in my life. Some that were neighbors, some through church. Some are very near and dear to me. I need each and every one of them. Each has a special quality that helped create the bond that we share. Girlfriends are special. I am so thankful that I have had the opportunities to be surrounded by "sisters"

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day,
drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother. As

they talked about life, about marriage, about the

responsibilities of life and the obligations of

adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her

glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance

upon her daughter.



'Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling

the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll

be more important as you get older. No matter how

much you love your husband, no matter how much you

love the children you may have, you are still going

to need sisters. Remember to go places with them now

and then; do things with them.'



'Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women.

your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other

women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women

always do.'



What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman

thought. Haven't I just gotten married?

Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a

married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely

my husband and the family we may start will be all I

need to make my life worthwhile!'



But she listened to her mother. She kept contact

with her sisters and made more women friends each

year. As the years tumbled by, one after another,

she gradually came to understand that her mother really

knew what she was talking about. As time and nature

work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman,

sisters are the mainstays of her life.