True Friends

I got to spend the weekend with my best friends in the world this past weekend and it's not because I am an "emptynester".  We get together as much as we can in any given year.  We call ourselves the BIG F friends.  We are friends that know A LOT about each other but love each other anyway.  We go back a LONG way, almost 40 years for some of us, as little as 27 years for others. 

In the midst of card playing, laughing, drinking and eating this weekend we also read a letter that Sarah left for us before she departed for Germany.  I won't go into great detail of the letter but the "gist" was that Sarah looks to these friends as "aunts", "other mothers" and friends, they have always been a part of her life.  She mentioned in the letter that she was at times jealous of the friendship that we have.  She looks to our friendships when she creates bonds with new people.  And of course, she mentioned that she expects all of my friends to be there for me and take care of me if I get down about her being gone.  Duh, of course they will be there!

Here is what I want to say to her.  It takes work to develop friendships like we have and it takes time.  There have been literally years when have not all seen each other.  There have been years when others have gotten together and I wasn't there.  They were able to develop relationships that I wasn't even part of.  That doesn't matter.  We have a commitment to each other to stay in touch and stay friends.  Time and distance don't matter after awhile.  When we get together it is like we haven't been apart.  We might look a little different (Mary is still thrown by the fact that I no longer have platinum blond hair). The internet is an amazing thing.  We can see each other, each others family, comment quickly on something someone has done or posted a picture of.  I think that has certainly helped in the last few years, but I did mention that we have been friends for 30+ years, long before we were all messing with email and Facebook.

I am a very lucky woman to have these wonderful woman in my life.  We will always have each others back, help when we are needed, seek help when we need it.  There are others in my life that I can count on of course.  I have an amazing husband and great parents, a brother I can count on, a son and daughter who will take care of me in my old age and lots of wonderful friends but I also have 6 other women that I can call my sisters.  I love them, they know that but I wanted to say it again.