The Seven Shes

I knew at a very young age that I was one of the lucky ones. I sat at a consistent lunch table every day with girlfriends that I could share my quirkiest thoughts and feelings with, knowing they wouldn’t judge me.  They loved me for everything that I was and even crazier - everything I was not. I had a boyfriend who didn’t pressure me into having sex and six best friends who would take a bullet for me. These two notions made my high school experience relatively extra ordinary.  It was rare, but it was real. I wasn’t afraid of being teased and I wasn’t anxious that I wouldn’t fit in. I just did. We all just did.

My seven girlfriends and I were a rare breed of “friend.” We had a strong bond that would have errored on the side of a clique had we acted like those typical high school bitches. There were enough of us to act like that, but instead we chose to not exclude other girls for not being one of “us”.  We welcomed them in and learned lessons from each of them, which we in turn taught each other. Maybe we were like this because we were taught through our years of Catholic schooling to be good to people and treat them the way we wanted to be treated or maybe it stemmed from the fact that our families all shared the same basic values.  Those values put love in front of hate and what was morally right in front of what may be more popular.  Whatever the reasoning, I’m sincerely proud of the women we were then and tear up knowing how beautiful each of my friends are now.

They are as brilliantly witty as they are kind and embrace people for who they are. They all share an insatiable and fearless spirit as they go through life daring to dream big despite life’s trials and tribulations. Because, trust me, we have all had our share.  God has thrown a lot of crap our way, but He got this right.  He gave us each other and I am forever grateful.

Our inside jokes. Our memories. Our trips together. Our holiday extravaganzas. Our beach weekends. Our laughs. Our BBQs. Our bar nights. Our boyfriend troubles. Our accomplishments. Our low moments. Our pain. Our joy. We are all in. We were always all in. We were always together. We may span over four states between all of us, but the truth is I feel like they are with me every day. I am a stronger person because of their good hearts and am a more sensitive person because of the empathy and love they have always showed me.

So today I have a confession.... I am having a love affair with six women. I am not afraid to admit that I am quite possibly one of the luckiest women alive because I am one of theirs and each of them are one of mine.

Happy Best Friend Day indeed to my rays of sunlight. Madison, my deepest wish for you is to have at least one friend like your six Aunties. Or at the very least, I am sure one of us will force a best friendship between yourself and one of their kids. We all know it is going to happen. You poor lucky children.  

Corinne sent Meredith, Helen, Allison, Jessica, Rebecca and I a poem I had written when we were all just entering our early twenties, which I would like to share with all of you. Happy Best Friend Day to us, my dear loves. Happy Day to seven very blessed souls. xoxoxox

..Let's pretend the typo in the header does not exist, for my own sanity's sake =).