The strength of my friends

Today, while driving down the highway with music blaring (something I like to do when I am alone or maybe it’s a way for me to be alone) I started thinking about my friends and I realized that very strong women surround me. In my minds eye I looked at each one and I could see where their strengths lie, they are an amazing group of women. Within the inner circle of friendship we range in age from 31 to 46 but as we go outside the circle the age range expands from 3 to 73. We are daughters, sisters, mothers, wives, friends. We learn from our mothers how to be strong and as we go through the life cycle we pass that along right down to our own daughters and if we are all lucky we will continue on to our daughter’s daughters.

Everyday we are faced with new issues, new problems and somehow we adapt, we grow, we become stronger for having dealt with what life throws our way. The strength of my friends is a constant amazement to me, not that I don’t believe they possess such strength but that they continue no matter how painful, sad, or difficult their problems maybe. Within my circle of friends there is impending death, marriage break up – single parenting, past indiscretions, health issues, job loss, new life in a new city and the list goes on and on and through it all we learn how to deal…. And besides all our own problems we take on the weight of the world, we fight for the little child who cannot fight for him or herself, we lookout for the underdog.
We empower each other – my friends are my greatest support. They let me know I am never alone; they will always be there when times are tough and for when I need a shoulder. We bare the weight of our convictions and every so often when we find ourselves questioning our ability to do right over wrong or our ability to see right from wrong we are never left alone – someone is always there with an outstretched hand.

Like the Helen Reddy song, “ I Am Woman” --- ‘if I have to I can do anything, I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman. You can bend but never break me cause it only serves to make me more determined to achieve my final goal, and I come back even stronger…’

We continue through pain and sorrow, we pick ourselves up and move on, we learn, we live, we teach, we support, we love and we become stronger!