• Girlfriends will hand you tissues and tell you it’s OK to cry when your heart has been broken.
• Girlfriends will tell you that whoever broke your heart in the first place is a loser jerk that didn’t deserve you anyway.
• Girlfriends will snap the under-snap of your bodysuit when you are too drunk and uncoordinated to reach down and do it yourself.
• Girlfriends will go and retrieve your bra from where you may have left it the night before so that it doesn’t become someone’s trophy.
• Girlfriends will put you in touch with their midwife mothers, who will talk you through over the phone how to take out your diaphragm that got stuck and lodged up there.
• Girlfriends will keep your secrets.
• Girlfriends will pick you up when you’ve fallen down. They will hold your hand and walk you home.
• Girlfriends will take care of your kids if you are having a mom-life crisis and need a break.
• Girlfriends will kiss and hug your kids like they are their own.
• Girlfriends will tell you to buy that pair of shooze anyway and not eat for a month to be able to afford it.
• Girlfriends will empower you and give you confidence.
• Girlfriends are selfless.
One of the nicest things that a girlfriend ever did for me was after only knowing her for less than a month. The week before I started a new job, my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was a terrible and confusing time. I didn’t know anything about pancreatic cancer and I certainly didn’t know that his battle would last for only four months. As I sat at my new desk in my new office one morning, I tried to grasp any sense of clarity. It would be great if I could remember the names of my new colleagues. Or if I could remember whether or not I had changed Gus out of his dirty diaper that morning before I went to work. Or if I could stop putting my underwear on inside out. Or if I could understand what any of the following words meant; malignant neoplasm, adenocarcinoma or percutaneous needle biopsy. Everything in my head was a foggy blur and I seemed to be operating mindlessly in the dark, flailing helplessly around.
And that’s when an angel appeared. As I sat at my desk one morning, a small bag floated down over my head and was placed in front of me. I looked up and my new co-worker was standing there with a smile on her face. “What is this”, I asked. She smiled gently and answered in her molasses thick Memphis accent “It’s homemade lasagna. I made two – one you can eat tonight and the other you can pop in the freezer and have next week. It’s already wrapped in heavy duty freezer paper. There are also some green beans and homemade chocolate chip cookies in the bag too." I just stared at her in disbelief that anyone had a heart big enough to do something so selfless, knowing me for such a short period of time. “Your kids need to eat, Mamagirl.” Several weeks later, my Memphis angel showed up at my father’s wake service. I introduced her to my own mamagirl and my mamagirl hugged her tightly and said “Thank you for feeding my grandchildren.”
I will never forget that act of kindness and from that moment onwards, I knew that she would be in my life forever. This is the fabric that girlfriend material is made of. She is a talented singer songwriter http://www.myspace.com/madisonsouth and I know she is destined for greatness. When she becomes a household name, I hope you will remember reading this post and will know that not only is she beautiful and talented, but that her heart is also made of gold.
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