Monday, March 21, 2011

My Girls

You know those girls who say they never really got along with girls? Who find themselves much more comfortable surrounded by guys than the tiring, endless, overwhelming drama that girls are often genetically predisposition to? Well, I'm not one of them. I have actually had great luck with girls. I mean, yes there are the few that my life would have been all the more blessed had I never run into, but I have been fortunate enough to have a rock solid group of girlfriends through all the stages of my life. 

All relationships are different. Your parents, your siblings, your significant other. But few things compare to your best friends, your girlfriends. From high school, through college and even in my short time here in Philadelphia, I have managed to find some really great ones. Listen to me sob at 2:00AM beer tears friends, tell me I'm doing the right thing friends, pick me up when I'm down friends, pee your pants laughing friends, pick up where you left off friends. My mom calls them "refrigerator friends." The technical definition, for all of you without the latest edition of Websters, are friends that can come into your house and rummage through your refrigerator without asking. The maximum level of comfort. And I've got lots of them...

Tonight I got off a long overdue phone call with a friend I'd been meaning to catch up with. A refrigerator friend. An "all of the above" friend. She'd been having a bit of a tough time the last time we talked, but I was happy to hear she'd made a complete 180. It got me thinking how genuinely happy I was for her. For all of my friends. You know that you've surrounded yourself with the right people when their successes are yours and when you can almost hear the smile on their face when you talk about your own.

Our conversation made me think about the women in my life. The women I've surrounded myself with. Strong, compassionate, driven, smart, funny, beautiful friends all unique and inspiring in ways I'm sure they don't even know. Women grabbing life by the balls horns. Women starting over. Women saving the world. Women making sacrifices. Women making brave discoveries about themselves. Women pushing through making lemonade out of lemons. Women who believe in themselves. Women I am lucky enough to call my friends. 

One of the weirdest things about this whole post-college real world life that we've all been forced into is the overwhelming change. My friends are starting to establish homes, and lives, and jobs. So long are the days where we all leave in August and return in December for a month, head back to school and return for the summer. We are starting lives. Careers. Journeys that are taking us to all corners of the country, and for my amazingly, talented, smarty pants friends, the world. It is naturally a bit of a downer, to know that as exciting as the paths we are all embarking on are, we are losing a little bit of the family we've developed over these past years (or decades). But there is a special bond there. A special connection that won't ever die. I'm learning how gratifying it is to witness how hard your friends have worked to find success and happiness. And how you celebrate their accomplishments as proudly as you would your own. 

The real world may create a natural roadblock, but to be honest, I'm not worried.  Because my refrigerator friends know how to pick up right where we left off, like the months and (eek!) years, were only just days. 


1 comment:

  1. I love this. It's so so true. And I call them the "bury the body" friends. You know, the ones you could call to help you bury a body and they wouldn't ask any questions. Heh.

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