Friends

I read a book recently called Angry Housewives Eating BonBons. My friend, Mishelle gave it to me right before we left on vacation. I had not heard of the book and I admit that I was not super interested in reading it. But, I brought it on vacation and had finished The Kite Runner so, I picked it up and started to read it. I ended up REALLY enjoying it.






It was a fun, light read. It was about 5 housewives that were neighbors and decided to start a book club. At the beginning of the book, it was the late 60's and they were starting their families. The book followed the 5 women over the next 30 years. These 5 women remained neighbors and amazingly (!) were best friends for that whole 30 years. I have to admit that when I was reading it, I was a bit jealous. I mean, how cool would that be to have 4 best friends that all got along and all lived on the same street as me! Anybody want to move to my street and start a book club???


After I read it, I began thinking that as cool as it sounded, how TOTALLY unrealistic would that be! Maybe other people will disagree, but seriously....5 women...seeing eachother every day... living on the same street... raising kids together... and all of them got along and are still best friends after 30 years!! Where do you find these friends???


I have a lot of great friends, but I cannot imagine that 5 of us could be that good of friends after spending that much time living so close together and seeing so much of eachother for so long. You can't tell me that there wouldn't be some "Z's kid said mean things to my kid", "X told me that Y said your yard looks like trash", "Y can't stand your husband", "X's dog poops in my yard all the time", "Y thinks she can drop her kids off here any time because she thinks that I don't work", "she is so unreliable", "did you hear that Y and Z went out to for pedicures and they didn't invite us!", "X never does anything with us any more. She likes her PTA friends better, doesn't she think she's cool".


Oops, maybe I got carried away, but you get the idea. Women fight about petty stuff...a lot... and based on my experiences, it is extremely unlikely that they could all remain good friends for that long. They'd be pairin' off, and talkin' about eachother, and takin' sides, you know what I mean....it just couldn't happen.


But, it was a good book and I recommend it. Actually, it was so good (and "clean") that I passed it along to my mom. She is REALLY enjoying it. I thought she would especially with it being her generation. She's going to pass it along to her friends next.


So, this brings me to the point of my post. Today, my friend Natasha, and her girls, visited the boys and I. Natasha and I have been friends for a long time....19 years. Ok, off topic, but HOW am I old enough to have a 19 year friendship with a college friend? Wow!...anyway, we are each busy with our own lives and only end up seeing each other once or twice a year.

All "our" kids

I have been very blessed with my friends. I am not winning any popularity contests, but I have always had good friends when I needed them....some fun, some serious, some nuts (you know who you are!), some cheerful, some naughty(!), some hilarious, and some that I can really count on when I need to. All of my friends have served a different purpose in my life and I am blessed to have all of them.


Even though Natasha and I don't see each other very often and are not really involved in each other's day to day lives, I would classify her as, well "nuts" ;).... but also, more seriously, as "a friend that I can always count on when I need a friend". She is a friend that is always there if I need her, good or bad. If Spencer does something nice for me, or if I'm extra proud about something the boys can do, or even if we just bought a new car, I can tell Natasha and she will genuinely be excited for me. Even her car is in the shop, her husband is grumpy and her kids are in the doghouse, she will show nothing but happiness for me and my good fortune. At the same time, if I am struggling with something, I can be sure that Natasha is not secretly enjoying watching me deal with a tough situation.

Her friendship is rare and genuine and I will always really appreciate and treasure that. Thanks Tasha!! Ooooo, one more thing that makes her extra cool, apparently, she is an avid reader of my blog too. ;)

I was going to end this with a nice picture of me and Natasha, from when we were young and cute, by my stupid scanner is not *speaking* to my stupid computer (not my nice, new laptop, my stupid old computer) so, no such luck. I'll try again tomorrow.