Friendship is a funny thing, don’t you think?  Some come and go with the changing of the tides, some serve a purpose - a transition from one stage of life to another, and others endure…forever.  History shows, as far back as has been recorded on this subject, that the importance friendship plays in the lives of women is immeasurable.  The good ones provide us with a shoulder to cry on, open hearts to trust in, helping hands to guide us through childhood, our highschool and college years, dating, marriage, motherhood and sometimes devastating loss - all with bottomless devotion and side-splitting laughter.

Look…we love the men, but can they truly understand days filled with super tampons, boat-size pads and PMS?  No.  Nor should they.  That’s what our girlfriends are for.  And really, what man would sit on the phone for an hour and forty-five minutes meticulously listing the pros and cons of each bachelor on this season of The Bachelorette. 

“She kept Twilly…again?  Really?  We gotta break this down.”  So we do.  And eventually we decide Twilly isn’t such a bad guy…he’s just a goofball.  And maybe he would make a good husband.

“I prefer the electric connection, though.” 

“But Nikki, where has that gotten you?”

“Well, not to divorce court…I can tell you that.”

“Touche.”

Saturday night, I met up with a group of old friends I hadn’t seen in an embarrasingly long time.  Why the long gap between our last meeting and this?  Life, I guess.  As we get older - as we find ourselves entrenched in jobs and families and a thousand other commitments, we often let our strongest, most enduring friendship connections rest on the back burner.  I guess we assume they’ll always be there, no matter how neglectful we are - no matter how little fan we put to the flames.  It’s not until we reconnect that we realize how necessary those relationships are…how much they contribute to our livlihood, and how much happiness that imperative outlet brings to other parts of our lives.

And, for the love of Dove chocolate, it’s damn fun, too.  The memories…Lord have mercy…hanging out with the ladies - the special ones - well, there’s no better ab workout than that.  If everyone had a memory like Heidi, Esther and Lisa (my Saturday night companions), well, I’d probably be in jail.  But, by God, they’d be there to bail me out.  And they’d likely convince the guards to release me early (don’t ask how).

We forget, at times, how liberating it is to sit with a select group and realize they know everything about you…everything…and they love you even more for it.  And it’s amazing how just a few words - complete gibberish to an outsider’s ear - can incite twenty minutes of tearful, red-faced laughter…laughter so intense that one of you (not me, of course) will pee just a little or let out a toot - causing the whole crew to erupt into another fit of uncontrollable hysterics.  It’s also possible that another twenty minutes later, the subject will change completely, and you’ll all have your hands piled together, telling the one in need that she will make it through this tough time…the tide will turn…the doctors will succeed…the heart will mend…the baby will come to her, however she (or he) is meant to, and we will be there…by her side…through it all.  Then someone, in an attempt to lighten the mood, will bring up the time one of us (again, not me) peed in a gas station sink, causing it to crash to the ground…or the funny way Amy’s body bent forward when we forced her to wear the thirty pound rubber penis around her neck…or the time that younger friend came to visit us in college and he got so drunk he simultaneously puked out our dorm room window whilst (yes, “whilst”) farting inside.

When it’s time to leave.  When our hearts are filled and our cups runneth over, we will head out to the parking lot (because an old high school acquaintance’s car is dead and she needs a jump)…and my supportive girls will convince the helpful deputies with the ten-gallon guts to take several hundred pictures with us - because “our friend has this blog - and we always get ourselves in pickles - and now she has a place to prove it.”  And the big ole boys will oblige - because this is Texas and it’s the Bareback Bar & Icehouse and they get to put their meaty little paws around the backs of some slightly flirty (for a good purpose) gals.  And as I take in the scene, I know…without a doubt, that we all realize what we’ve been missing, and that it’s time to put ourselves back up - just a bit higher - on the priority list.

Esther, Heidi, Nikki and Lisa (notice the arm placement by Esther and Lisa - a new technique they later taught me to avoid “big arm syndrome”)

Arm placement technique perfected.  Right after deputy whispers “whatcha standin’ so far away for?”

“Jimmy.  John.  We’re leaving you for, well…we’re not sure what they’re names are…but we’re gone.”

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