Celebrating the women in my life....,

As I end my week off from work, one thing comes to mind and that is how very blessed I am to have such wonderful, smart, sassy and funny women in my life.

A quick note of the picture on the left....this is me (I did not know how to post it in my profile) as I typically look. You might ask yourself why the need to portray myself in this fashion? Well, as you read on and I explain about my adult sleepover at my friend Paula's home it will become clear. Going back to my girl friends.....as I look at my life it is very clear how these incredible women have been in my life longer than my child, my husband and even my loving dog. They have been there through all of my adventures, misadventures, tragedies, joys and growth as a human being. They are my allies, my sisters, my therapists, my personal librarians, my sounding boards but above all they are are my spiritual soul mates. The connections are not just chance happenings, these connections are deeply bound in the soul of our earthly existence. In the book, "Many Lives, Many Masters", it is said that no relationship that we currently have is coincidental, most people in our lives are intrinsically woven together through our past lives. I am a deep believer in this.

This week, I got very sad but optimistic news that my friend Patti ( also my son's god-mother) was diagnosed with bladder cancer. She went in for what she believed was a simple removal of a cyst on her bladder, later to be told that it was a cancerous tumor. Patti lives in Florida and it was difficult not to get on the next airplane to be by her side. She being who she is assured me that she is ok and that it was not invasive. Patti is an incredibly strong and bright woman who has handled her life with humor and hope. I know that she will be alright. By the way, when discussing how and why.... it turns out that smoking (which she does a lot) is an absolute way to getting bladder cancer (this I did not know). So for all, be well informed and pass it on.

On Thursday, my son had a sleepover at his friends house. Luckily for me their mother is one of my dearest friends. Paula and I have habitually over the years provided deep caring for each other through many of our crisis. So when our boys have a sleep over we ask ourselves why not have a grown up sleepover. It entailed eating (of course), drinking of wine (of course), and not ever a word of criticism only praise (of course). Being with your girl friends is a free for all love fest. No one is more generous with compliments (i.e. God you look great, you are so funny, that color is great for you, I miss you, I love you, you are so wonderful) and so the evening moves along like a long embrace that fills you with warmth and smells like potpourri. The evening ended with a heating pad (for my bad back), a shoulder pillow that was heated through with herbs (for stress) and cold compresses for my eyes ( to relief my headache).

Can Anyone say "Alien" - if that is not the worse picture I have ever seen (Big Lie - there is a worse one but out of vanity I could not display). A girl has to keep some dignity. My son walked in and screamed, said I looked like a dead alien. He kindly took the picture.

We did manage to get some sleep and as we parted the next day we realize that we don't have enough sleepovers or time together and felt very blessed for our friendship. My dear girl friends are busy, hard working women, mothers and wives. Each one representing so many valued human traits. I am lucky......

So to all my girl friends and you all know who you are, I'd like to say thank you so very much for the wonderful, full hearted, soul quenching gift of you.
Addendum:
I want to take a moment to honor someone special, since I just realized todays date. My beautiful niece Annabelle died 5 years ago today after complications from Gastro by-pass surgery. She was 27 years old, my brothers first born. She had struggled her whole life with obesity and thought this would be her chance to start a new life. When we talked about it, she often spoke with great sadness about the looks she got on the subway, in the market, on the streets. She had many friends, was a poet and writer, but sadly she knew that people judged her by her looks. Some not ever knowing how brilliant she was......