Tonight I had dinner with my girls. We've been celebrating birthdays together for years, and so tonight we gathered to honor one of the gang. We laughed, we learned (black tongue!), we ate, and we laughed some more (no tears tonight!), and when we got too cold dining under the stars at one restaurant, we moved on to another. We left as they were shutting down.
These are the people who know me better than anyone, except my family. They are the ones who know my strengths and my weaknesses. They know when I'm up and when I'm down. They know when I'm not the best person because I don't have to hide my ugliness from them. They challenge me, sometimes with words, but most of the time just by being who they are. They each have their own gifts and passions. We are all so very different, and yet, that is what makes our time together so rich. They make me want to be a better woman, wife and mother because they are such great women, wives and mothers.
Here are some of my favorite moments together:
- Watching movies at Julie's cabin 'til we can't see straight
- Hearing men's voices in the cabin late at night and being scared to death
- Putting cucumbers on our eyes, highlights in our hair, food in our faces, and fingernail polish all over Laura's brand new outfit at the cabin
- Pool parties at Angie's
- Traipsing through every Goodwill store in the state (slight over exaggeration) on the way to the cabin
- Filling up every chair at the salon for pedicures on my 40th birthday
- Couples' dinners with our hubbies
- Watching our 17 children dig holes, build sandcastles, & chase balloons on the shores of Lake Michigan
- Kidnapping Laura for her birthday and having to dig our way into the cabin in winter
- Play dates when the kids were little (MOPS) and keeping each other from losing our minds
- Bonfires at Jeni's house
- Christmas Eves at Laura's house
I know true friends are a rare treasure, and I am blessed to have found so many. I thank God for friendship and how he has used these dear friends to make my life complete.
Girls, if you are reading this, I love you!
