Sunday night I attended a birthday party. I really do not believe girls ever grow up! At least I don’t want to ever become a grown up if it means no more birthday parties, no more silly stuff, no more gut splitting laughter… Frivolous and fun I need a dose of them both – like good vitamins or necessary fiber.

When I left the gathering of girlfriends I felt renewed, cleansed, and energized – ready for a new week, ready to face whatever would come my way.

As I drifted off to sleep I did so with a smile. How is it that a good dose of serious girlfriend time shores me up so?

Ten women came together to celebrate a birthday, but in the end each one of the ten women felt celebrated. You want to know how? We spent the entire evening listening and talking.

Did you know that one of our deepest longings is to be known? Of the ten women at my girlfriend’s party, I didn’t know five! What a challenge – to walk into a room full of women, half of them I don’t know. Do I “work” the crowd by chatting with the girls I know, or do I reach out to the ones I have never, ever in my life seen?

Well I started the evening by visiting within my comfortable circle, but then I sat down next to someone I didn’t know. Becoming acquainted with her was fun! I learned all sorts of interesting things about her and then we turned to the lady sitting next to her. We found out we had a lot in common. Conversations went around the table. One woman would talk while the others listened. This is what I learned about nine other women – some who I had known before that night, some whom I had never met:

I learned that you can be 32 years old and not know how you got pregnant! ( She confessed that her husband had moved and she had stayed behind to sell the house. They had been apart for months, so….. and then she remembered – the one night they had spent together while celebrating a family wedding! She only remembered this encounter after he doctor assured her that it takes two to tango!)

A grown up and married woman is never too old to be swept off her feet by a handsome male – doesn’t matter if he is 40 or 20!

Just like little girls, women cry when they have to say good bye to their girlfriends. (And move all the way across the country.)

We carry deep storehouses of knowledge and wisdom, waiting to be tapped and shared with those who are wondering, alone and afraid.

Women don’t mind lifting up the other end of the burden when it is too heavy to carry alone.

Women like to travel together. We especially like New York and the beach, spas and retreats.

We fall in love with each other’s children and experience deep joy when they succeed. We also mourn and grieve with one another when our children stray.

Women are not proud. We will shed tears as we tell tales of heart break and we snort with laughter when one of us tells on herself.

Girlfriends love to help each other. Ideas flowed back and forth across the dinner table. At the birthday girl’s dinner table we were teachers, nurses, accountants, builders, decorators, realtors, singers, insurance adjusters, designers, architects, all with an open desire to help the one who found herself searching for resources.

All good things come to an end and so did our party. No one wanted to leave. We all had enjoyed ourselves immensely. I know why the evening was so satisfying. We listened and we talked. Each lady there was given an opportunity to be heard and to be known.

Next time I feel dissatisfied with life I think I am going to reach out to someone I don’t know.