Much of the time, life gets in the way of what we truly want to be doing. It’s an unfortunate circumstance, but I’m pretty sure you all can relate. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself, “Man, I really need to make time to call my friend.” Or “I haven’t talked to you in ages. We need to change that!” That’s how I feel most of the time about my five best girlfriends from college (Heck… that’s how I feel about most of my best friends!)
Luckily, we are the kind of friends that can pick up right where we left off, even if we left off over a year ago. We are the kind of friends that cry when we see each other. Give each other the actual biggest hugs. And get a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we have to say goodbye.
Earlier this month, my five best girlfriends and I gathered in San Francisco for our second annual “reunion.” Last year, we went to Florida for a glorious long weekend full of wine, laughter, tears and quality time together. This year, the group picked SF and wine country as our destination.
The girls trickled in over the course of three days (darn missed flight!) and once we were all together again, the world felt whole. It’s amazing what these kinds of friendships can do for the soul.
We spent the night before Halloween out in the Castro, explored the city, then ventured up to wine country where we spent the rest of the weekend.The airbnb house we rented was perfect for the six of us. We snuggled, cooked, drank plenty of wine, played Cards Against Humanity, laughed, cried, played “friendship games,” toured wine country tasting at a handful of vineyards. But back to the “friendship games.” One of The Girls is a teacher, and I’m not sure if she gets the inclination to play games/write letters to each other and to ourselves from her classroom, but these “games” were one of the highlights of the trip for me. One of the games I especially loved: we were given five small squares of paper and were instructed to write down one thing we’re really proud of each of The Girls for accomplishing this last year. We then sorted them by name and failed miserably at keeping our pride anonymous. The six of us have done some pretty incredible things since college, and even over the course of the last year. And now, we each have five little reminders whenever we’re having a bad day.
It was so incredible showing The Girls my life here in San Francisco. While it feels like college and the memories we made was a lifetime ago, it was so special having them here, sharing in my “new” life. I’ve made some amazing friends in San Francisco.
These girls are the friends that are irreplaceable. These girls are the ones that will be there for me no matter what, when, how, or who. They’re the friends that will tell me when I’m wrong, stupid and out of line. They’re the friends that will squeal on the phone when something amazing. They are The Friends. And I’m so lucky.
