Girlfriends

Young and newly married, the girl relaxed under a pecan tree on a hot summer day, drinking iced tea and getting to know her new sister-in-law, Estelle. Not much older, but the mother of three, Estelle seemed to the new bride, experienced and wise. "Get yourself some girlfriends", she advised, clinking the ice cubes in her glass. "You are going to need girlfriends. Go places with them, do things with them."

What a funny piece of advice, she thought. Hadn't she just gotten married? Hadn't she joined the couple-world? She was now a married woman, for goodness sake, not a young girl who needed girlfriends! But she listened to her new sister-in-law and got herself some girlfriends.

As the years tumbled by, one after another, gradually she came to understand that Estelle knew what she was talking about. Here is what she discovered:

Girlfriends bring casseroles and scrub your bathrooms when you are sick,
Girlfriends keep your children and your secrets,
Girlfriends give advice when you ask for it. Sometimes you take it and sometimes, you don't.
Girlfriends don't always tell you that you are right, but they are usually honest.
Girlfriends still love you, even when they do not agree with your choices.
Girlfriends might send you a birthday card, but they might not. It does not matter in the least.
Girlfriends laugh with you, not at you.
Girlfriends pull you out of jams.
Girlfriends don't keep a calendar that lets them know who hosted the other last,
Girlfriends will give a party for your son or daughter when they get married or have a baby, in whichever order that comes!
Girlfriends listen when you lose a job or your husband,
Girlfriends listen when your children break your heart, or when your parents minds and bodies fail.
And it is your Girlfriends that are there for you, in an instant, when the hard times come. And they will come.

When you are young, you have no idea of the incredible joys and the incredible sorrows that lay ahead of you. Girlfriends will bless your life. They have surely blessed mine.














Like a proud mother, watching her child walk for the first time! Kathy and Barb on their first geo hunts..........Priceless!





















Get yourself some girlfriends....You are going to need them.

Thank you, my beloved friends, for blessing my life these past 30 years. Lets raise our glasses to 30 more!