The Significance of A Sisterhood

But yah got to have friends
The feeling's oh so strong
Yah got to have friends
To make that day last long

- Friends, Bette Midler

I’m feeling this vibe having returned from our annual girls trip just last week. My friend Maureen and her husband have a family ranch along the Texas/Mexico border. They generously open it up one weekend a year to our circle of friends. It’s always a riotous good time. Long walks, talks, tarot, laughter, and copious wine consumption.

In between these yearly trips we celebrate one another through our regular virtual happy hours and in person when we can get together. These women, this sisterhood, has not only helped me get through a pandemic. Their friendship and encouragement has helped me in a multitude of ways.

They’ve become a touchstone I regularly check in with about any topic under the sun, from the inconsequential to existential questions. We uplift one another. We routinely share divergent perspectives and challenge one another. And when we feel we might’ve misstepped, we apologize. Just as grown ass, smart women should do. It all encourages me to grow, evolve, and be my best self. How can it not?

A prime lesson they’ve imparted, and its by example of our own mixed bag of life experiences, is that there are endless narratives for each of us and no one’s story is the same. Nor does it need to be. Plot twists and turns in life will impact us all at some point. Especially when you think you’ve got it all figured out. It often helps to have the objectivity of a friend to make you consider another perspective. To see things in a new and different light.

I know that no matter what life sends my way this sisterhood will build me up when I’m down, lovingly cheer me on when I find success, and call me on my shit when necessary. And I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.