A young wife sat on a porch on a summer day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter.
"Don't forget your girlfriends," she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the
bottom of her glass. "They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you'll
have, you are still going to need girlfriends. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them. And remember that "girlfriends" are not only your friends, but your sisters, your daughters, and other relatives too.
You'll need other women. Women always do."
'What a funny piece of advice,' the young woman thought. 'Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married
woman, for goodness sake, a grown-up, not a young girl who needs girlfriends!
Surely my husband and the family we'll start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'
But she listened to her Mother; she kept contact with her girlfriends and made more each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, girlfriends are the mainstays of her life. After 40+ years of living in this world, here is what I know about girlfriends, Times passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up.
Marriages fail. Love waxes and wanes. Hearts break. Careers end. Jobs come and go. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. But girlfriends are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A true girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach.
My friends bless my life! The world wouldn't be the same without them, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no
idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.
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