Best Friends Forever

I just spent the last 4 days with some of the best girlfriends in the world.  It made me ponder relationships, especially female friend relationships.  I've known this group of women since college, a couple I've known longer.  That's 27+ years.  So, to say I know them well is an understatement.

To me, friendships become more important as the pressures of life gang up on you.  The BFFs and I have been through weddings, illnesses, births, divorces, deaths, job promotions, hysterically funny everyday moments, embarrassing moments and the awful "I'm sorry but the company is downsizing and we're laying you off."  At all these times in our lives, not just the tough ones, your friendships are invaluable.  They give you a sense of overall well-being and happiness and make you feel more comfortable with your personal identity.  Let's be honest ... how could we possibly be happy and have a full life without our friends?

Now, don't get me wrong.  This is not to say that sometimes you don't get angry or disappointed in a friend.  But, when you're in a lifelong committed friendship, you work it out.  You always find a way to work it out.  I'm not going to dedicate blog time right now talking about broken friendships or the friend who yapped all over town about your private life or the ex-friend who stole your man.  This blog post is entirely positive, mainly because I can't stop laughing to myself today when I have a flashback to a funny comment or story from one of the BFFs this weekend.

So, let's tip our hats to our friends.  And, to my friends who I have known and loved since our days in South Dakota, I truly deeply love and cherish you.  I find that the older we get, the harder it is to make new true friends.  Maybe it's because we're more discerning, we've lived and learned.  Or, maybe it's just that you already have exactly what you need ... I know that's my truth.

Enjoy the pictures ...

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