Sista Friend →
Dearest Libby,
Recently, I came into contact with someone who was a mutual acquaintance of a dear friend of mine from high school. He happened to have her business card, and I got it.
I am sure I have told you about her. She and I had been very close in middle and high school, but had had a falling out right before college that essentially ended our friendship. We tried a few times over the next few years to maintain contact, but, distance, immaturity and some unresolved issues kept each of us at bay.
It took me a few weeks to get up the nerve, but I finally emailed her. I don’t know why I was afraid to do it. Maybe for fear she wouldn’t want to hear from me? Or that she still may be angry after all this time? Or worse yet, that she would be totally apathetic and dismissive? But, finally I just thought, what the hell?
She responded to my short email within hours with a long, detailed and heartwarming letter of her own. And so the conversation started. It has been wonderful to reconnect, to re-live the old, good memories and discuss some of the bad ones. It’s been a sort of healing for us both.
Over the years, I have had many wonderful female friendships. And I have begun to realize just how important they are in my life. Though I love my husband dearly, there are so many parts of living this life that only a fellow female will understand.
We can complain (affectionately!) about our husbands and not have to sugar-coat. We can be honest about how our kids drive us crazy and not feel guilty about it. We can talk about health issues, body issues and text photos of ourselves in ensembles for quick advice before leaving the house on date night (I sort of forget how to dress like a sex goddess in between baby feedings and work attire). We can count on one another to be genuinely happy when something fabulous happens, and truly supportive when the stars don’t quite align.
I guess I’m just writing this because I think it is easy for those friendships to take a back seat to the rest of our crazy lives. And that’s ok – good friendships can withstand a little neglect. But it never hurts to say thank you when you think of it.
So, thank you for being such a wonderful friend to me all of these years. It is the women like you in my life who make aging not-so-gracefully actually kind of fun.
xoxo