Wish I Knew This When I Was Younger

My mind has calmed as I hit my 60's and it made it easier for me to reflect on just what I want out of life and what I wouldn't tolerate in it.

I always had girlfriends before I met my husband but made a terrible decision to give them up in favor of the man I loved.  I lived almost my entire marriage without girlfriends until one day I realized just how much I was missing and made a conscious decision to change.  I had forgotten how to cultivate friends but sort of drifted around making the odd effort to just speak to strangers or near strangers.  Gradually some of those strangers hung around and we became friends.  Such a beautiful thing to have...a friend.

I didn't deliberately cultivate a certain type of person, just needed that they would be honest and kindly people.  I became less closed off and accepted anyone who would accept me.  My little circle of friends grew and, with that growth, came emotional growth for me, too.  My friends made me laugh.  I know for certain that I've laughed more with the friends I've gathered in my senior years than at any other time of my life.  I even love the differences in our personalities because new ideas open our minds.

Women need girlfriends.  There is not a man on earth that can understand us the way a girlfriend can.  I would hope no other woman would be as foolish as I was in my youth, giving up my friends and living only for my man.  There is room and necessity for both in our lives.  

As I began to gather new friends, I understood clearly that it was easy to open yourself up to a friendship but it took a while to become best friends.  Some people arrive in your life looking genuine but, in time, some might display faults that are deal breakers.  I've been very lucky and found only a couple who turned out to be people I couldn't be close with.  That's human nature and nothing to worry about.  It's foolish to shut yourself away from people just because of a few bad experiences.

I absolutely love my lady friends and can only imagine how boring life would be without them.  There are a large group of ladies at the park in Florida that I wish so much lived closer to me here in the north.  Distance can make close friendships harder to maintain but I only have to think of Sylvia who lives 1000 miles away from me.  We will always be besties!  

I also love how Facebook allows me to keep in touch with those 3W friends, some of whom have left the park but all of whom I can still talk to on Facebook.  

When I'm at home I have only a few close friends and they just happen to be ladies I've known most of my life.  And they are honest and kind and make me laugh.  

I was 15 years old when I eagerly dumped my friends because my boyfriend who would become my husband didn't like them.  Today I'd dump a boyfriend before I'd dump any of my friends.  We do gain wisdom as we age.