I
hope you have people like these five wonderful women in your life. We were together
last night – all of us – for the first time in seven years. There have been two
or three of us together many times a year for a girl’s night out or a
girl’s trip to Vegas. It’s hard to get us all in one space, though, when two of
us now live out-of-state.
Thirteen
years ago, we were all working at the same hospital, having frequent outings,
sharing in one another’s daily lives. Thanks to Facebook, email, and texting,
we still have a lot of contact. It’s just not the same as being enveloped in
the loving energy the presence of these forever-friends provides. Our hugs are
much longer now than when we saw each other more often, as if we have to make
up for lost time.
Even
though it has been too long since we’ve all been together, we don’t miss a
beat, conversations take off, words spill out so fast we sometimes stumble over
one another and Sherry has to call things to order with “Circle Time!” This way
we each get a turn. We laugh so hard that tears flow – at old stories and new
ones.
Tears
flow for other reasons, too. Life has thrown a lot at each of us. We’re raising
children, having grandchildren, helping aging parents and learning how to say
goodbye to them, building houses, moving across the country, working hard, and
trying to etch out some time in between for ourselves. Sometimes just seeing
empathy and compassion in the eyes of someone who loves us dearly makes it
impossible to hold it together anymore. As it should be…
I’m
still smiling – on my face and in my heart today, thinking about how it felt to
be with them all again. They make life less difficult for me not only because
of the comic relief they provide but also because I see myself in each of them.
Because of them, I have an overwhelming sense that everything is going to be
okay but even if it’s not, they’ll be with me…forever. What a priceless gift…
Cathy, Ann, Me, Heather, Mary Kay and Sherry.
April 2013
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