When my daughter had her first boyfriend, I remember telling her not to forget her girlfriends. Even though the men in our life are important because they complete us in a very special way, our girlfriends have an emotional tie to us that men simply cannot understand because we are built so different. Especially as we grow older, we need that sisterhood, that women bond that men just cannot understand. Even though men need friends too, for us women, girlfriends are as necessary as water.
Since I grew up without siblings, I treasured my friendships more than most. And since I lived in three different countries during my first twelve years of life, it was also hard to keep them. Every time I got really close to someone to call her my best friend, it was time to move. However, I have two friends that I have known since birth and even though we live an ocean apart, to this day, they are still my best friends. More than friends, I consider them my sisters.
Our mothers met before we were born and became close almost from the get go. Less than two years separate the three of us. Tere is sixteen months older than I am and Dulce is two months younger. My photo albums from Cuba are filled with pictures of the three of us. It looks as though our families were inseparable. This bond was solidified in Spain when we moved to the same neighborhood in Madrid. We attended the same school, went on trips together and practically spent every minute of every day in each other's houses, at the pool, skating at the park or just goofing around the neighborhood.
When I turned twelve and my parents and grandparents decided to move to Miami, I was really excited because I had grown up listening to fairy tales about the United States. But this excitement turned sour when I found out that Tere and Dulce would be staying behind. We wrote to each other monthly for the first three years we were apart. When I turned fifteen, my parents asked me if I wanted a party. The "quinceañera" celebrations were in fashion but I was not interested. The only gift I truly wanted was to return to Spain and lucky for me, it was granted. I spent half of that summer in Spain and it is one of the best memories of my life. It was as if the years apart melted and we were once again the three inseparable girls that had grown up together. We could finish each other's sentences and we had phrases and idiosyncrasies that no one else understood.
I made friends in Miami during middle school and high school, but no one quite took the place of Tere and Dulce. Every time we get together, either on my side of the ocean or on their side, it's as if we have never been apart. There is no shyness between us. We can talk about anything, joke with each other and share the most intimate details without blushing. I guess this is as close as sisters can be. God didn't give me sisters, but He truly blessed me on the day our mothers met.
Even though my two best friends, my sisters from a different mother live an ocean apart, I have made many friends along my journey. Some are still in my life and others have moved on, but while they were a part of my life they had a purpose and they brought something I needed at that stage of my journey. When I go to lunch with my peeps, my husband tells me that all we do when we get together is gossip, but it's so much more than that. We share from deep within. We have no qualms about covering any subject from sex to beauty tips, from husbands to kids, from politics to religion. Nothing is taboo. And when we are going through a difficult time, we can open up our hearts with our girlfriends and share are deepest fears and emotions. They understand because most of the time, they have walked in our shoes. In good times, but especially in bad times, our girlfriends, together with our family, pick up the load and give us the pat on the back that will keep us walking forward. Our faith keeps us standing, but our girlfriends give us the push we need to keep going. They are the angels that God sends us when life closes in around us.
May God bless all my friends out there. Facebook friends that hit "like" whenever I post and pray whenever I ask. The friends I made at school, at work or at church. They each bring a special ingredient to my life. The friends I've made through my kids by spending so much time together at all the school activities, birthday parties and field trips. Even though our kids grew up, our friendship still remains strong. My Emmaus sisters and my Bible community. They are my sisters in Christ and I know that they are just a phone call or a text away. We have laughed together and we have cried together. Faith brought us together and God tied the friendship knot. We share the Word of God and so much more. We are prayer angels to each other, we meet to pray or "gossip" as much as possible and I need them just as much as I need my glass of water every morning. And last but not least, God bless my soul sisters whom I can't wait to hug again. I thank God for every one of you, whether you moved on or you are still in my life. You are better than coffee or chocolate. You are my village. You are the family I chose for myself.
So just as I told my daughter one day, don't forget your girlfriends when life gets too busy. The older I get, the more I understand the need for other women in my life. And I hope that I'm as important to them as they are to me.
Cheers to my girlfriends!!!
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