Content area
Full text
Several years ago as I sat on a plane headed for Seattle, I started to read "The Friendships of Women," by Dee Brestin. It's a wonderful book that was given to me by my best friend for my birthday. I settled in, flipped to the first chapter and read the following:
"When Elliot Engel watched his wife and her best friend say good-bye before a cross-country move, he found that their last hugs were so painful to witness, he finally had to turn away and leave the room. He said: `I've always been amazed at the nurturing emotional support that my wife can seek and return with her close friends...Her three-hour talks with friends refresh and renew her far more than my 3-mile jogs restore me. In our society it seems as if you've got to have a bosom to be a buddy.
I sat there with tears streaming down my face - for I could clearly envision myself and my best friend in this scene. My poor husband sat next to me somewhat dumbfounded as to how I could possibly be crying on the first page of this book! He couldn't understand the pain I felt...I knew in my heart that my best friend was leaving. I didn't know when or how (neither did she) but I knew it would happen. And it hurt already.
Have you been there? You move somewhere new or you're in a new phase of your life and you long for someone to chat with...to spend lazy summer afternoons watching your children play and sip lemonade with...to trade baby-sitting favors with...to carpool with...to watch your children grow up with her children as best friends themselves...and then it happens!
You've finally connected with some one and your friendship grows and deepens over the years - through chicken pox, more babies, first days of school, garage sales, crazy home improvement projects that take five times longer to complete than you thought...life in general bonds you together. What fun! What a comfort to have someone who can share the daily grind of mothering with you. It's a true blessing to have this relationship.
Keep in mind that your best friend is probably (and hopefully) not your only friend. You both may have...