My husband and I have been married nearly 11 years. Met in ’93, out of wedlock babe in non-apocalyptic Y2K born, house in ’01, I Do in 2000, bam! you’re all caught up. Please note that in the event of divorce, all music — CDs, 45s, 12-inch VINYL RECORDS HOLY SHIT THERE’S IRENE CARA — are mine*. I love him more than fried fish on Fridays with smashed up Wonder Bread sweating in a baggie. He saves me daily with his ability to make me laugh, think, consider, reflect. He is the first person I call with news and the last person I talk to at night. He is the person with whom I want to be when we aren’t together. The love I have for him, the utter commitment and You And Me Must Never Part is sometimes frightening (because sometimes there’s equal amounts of I Could Kill You In Your Sleep.) He is my everything.
And yet. The kids eke on in there and take up some of the space encompassing my everything. And yet still, there is even more space being awarded to my friends because I love them too. It’s just…different.
Oh, boy, my friends. I have a sister-in-law who is more like a sister who is more than a friend. I have one who I talk to more on IM than I see, early in the morning and late at night, and one thousands of miles away in NC who wouldn’t ask one question were I to show up at her door tomorrow. And then there are The Jets (you should see us snap.) There are seven of us and together we will get put out of the trendiest or seediest restaurants — we don’t discriminate (there are more of us but that’s a post for another time because there is no way to describe — to explain — to begin to…never mind.) We laugh when we’re together, loudly. We love each other hard. And your skin had better be thick because we also crack on everything imaginable; nothing is sacred, your feelings aren’t spared: funerals, new jobs, Christian clodhopper smoooooove shoes. If you can’t laugh at your own life, let alone at those around you, you’re doing it wrong (it hurts not to say incorrectly.)
There are times when just an email has made a particularly bad day or situation inexplicably better. There are times when a memory or a text or a phone call does the same. With vodka. There’s also usually vodka. There are times when I seriously wonder if they know just how much a part of me, a part of my existence, my family, they are. The question of what would I do without them is utterly unanswerable. Much like I can’t imagine life without my husband or my children or my family or Starburst, I can’t imagine life without the people who can say things like All Furred Up or The Randy Hand or I’m Not Going or Hapu and have me doubled over laughing on the floor instantly. I can’t imagine life without people to whom I will bare my stretch marked stomach in a public restroom, people who lift me up, encourage me, tell me to get up off my ass and do something with myself because they’re tired of me complaining.
Bat, X, Anch, Snow, RR, Fifi. I love y’all more than the smell of carbon copies in fourth grade.
I wish this was clearer; it’s easily one of my favorites
*The Husband does not know this so please be quiet about it. He is a sometimey reader of the blog so maybe he won’t see this until after I’ve already absconded with the clearly worth something Chuck Brown 45s.
This post made me bawl. You’re so beautiful. Also, my period must be starting soon. xo
Get thee to CVS for tampons and tissue.
Aaaww Tinky Winky, I love you more than a melted up Snickers that I find stuck to the bottom of my purse.
WE THE JETS!
You have some seriously HAWT friends. And you’re blessed to be so very close to them.
We are rather easy on the eyes, huh?
You and your… words <3 I hope our children understand the importance of friendship, of being able to reach out to someone, whether in person or via IM, at any hour of the day or night and have that person make you feel better or plot against the one you deem has wronged you all… I digress… I hope our children understand having an Armchair or Chrysanthemum in their lives. I love you Daddy, now do the RAWR! :D
Awesome! It is so great to be in the company of all of you beautiful women. I love you all!
How lucky you are! Wish I had friends like that!
life without the friendship of women – the deep deep friendship, where the conversation moves from shoes to i hate my husband to do you like my hair to how can i start over to stretch marks to depression, always with gales and gales of laughter? Life without that is not worth living. Or it’s living, I guess, but in some weird pale shadowy simulacra of life that I don’t want. Your friends are lucky to have you – and it sounds like you’re lucky to have them.
I am so very lucky. We are all lucky. This is love and acceptance at its finest spanning damn near 20 years. I wouldn’t change a thing, especially how yes, the conversation can span so many topics in a short period.
This was such a beautiful tribute to your friends that I’m embarrassed to admit that it made me feel sad. I’ve had great female friendships like that in the past, but my laugh-so-hard-you-bust-your-gut friends are few and far between these days. Thanks for reminding me how critical those girlfriends are – and for making me realize that I need to step up and be that kind of friend again.
It’s SOOOO good to have good girl friends. I loved reading about yours. I also love the smell of carbon copies. What I’d give to smell them again…..:)
These are the people that make life worth living. You are blessed.
The older I get, the more I recognize and appreciate the value of a true friendship. I haven’t always treated my girlfriend well; in college, I was more of a “dicks before chicks” kind of girl. But now? An afternoon or evening spent with a friend is something to be treasured.
I also don’t have a ton of girlfriends. I’ve always been more of a guy’s girl; women in general can really get under my skin. That said, the friendships I do maintain with other women are precious to me. It’s more about quality than quantity.
I now feel the need to get my friends on the phone/text/gchat and have a big kumbaya moment. <3