The Power of Girlfriends

Sister, girlfriends, chosen sisters – they’re all magic. During my recent big birthday I heard from a girlfriend I went to kindergarten with. Yup – that’s a long time ago! I heard from friends I went to high school with. I heard from my YaYa’s with whom I raised my children. I heard from new friends I’ve made in the last 6 or 7 years who I travel the globe with (or did when we could) or who are my ‘shop til we drop’ besties.”  

These are all girlfriends who have been with me through thick and thin and me with them.  Health issues with children. Yup. Marriages on the rocks or failing. That too. The losses of parents, siblings, our beloved pets. Yes, that too.  We have traveled to unique and beautiful places, broken bread, and toasted our glasses. These are girlfriends who we call when life is rough or who are the first to get our calls when we are celebrating something big and want to share the wonderful news.  There are my martini-drinking gal pals, and there are those who I’ve gotten to know through work connections and who travel together every year. One group of besties is called the YaYas after the book the YaYa Sisterhood, by the same name which just about sums it up for us. And there are the Wadobes who meet in Telluride once a year, powerful female executives from all stripes and walks of life with the mantra Want What You Have, Do what You Can, Be Who you Are. (WA-DO-BE) We help each other with career questions and manage during times of celebration and strife. This group too has faced lots of losses and hardships but now in the 10th year, the bonds are inextricable. The YaYas have been together for just under 30 years.  Its’ really quite amazing.

Girlfriends are there to laugh with, cry with, celebrate with, mourn with, and cackle with. We have our silly moments full of gag gifts and baby showers and now grandbaby showers and we have our laughs sitting poolside to catch up and chatter.  And yes we never stop talking.  We women love to talk and it’s never a dull moment when we are together.  Girlfriends provide essential support and they watch our backs.  Most of all they are the ones we go through life with keeping it timeless and full. 

 Girlfriends are simply magic.