For my entire life I have been blessed with amazing girlfriends. It’s one of those things that I recognize the importance of while it is actually happening. I really do have a large group of girlfriends. I am lucky enough to live in the area where I went to high school. This means that I have a great group of girls that I went to high school with that I am still friends with. Our hubbies are friends and our kids are friends. We are close to each other, but in different neighborhoods and our kids do go to different schools.

I am also lucky enough to live in the city where I went to college. Thankfully this means that I have a great group of college girlfriends close by as well. We were all in the same sorority together. Our hubbies are also great friends and our kids even go to the same schools. In fact, our kids are all more like cousins than friends. We celebrate birthdays and events together, we vacation together and basically hang out together. It’s a blessing that I am very aware of and thankful for.

These three girls are some of my best friends in the world. We laugh so much when we are together. I can trust them with anything and rely on them for anything as well. One of them has hosted my child’s birthday party at her home. I’m hoping one will host another party for me this summer, but I haven’t told her yet. (I wonder if she knows I’m talking about her? Email me and let me know it’s OK!) We are babysitters for each other. We love each other. We love each other’s children. You get it, right? We are best of friends and everything that goes with it!

We celebrate each others birthdays each year together. It might just be a girls lunch during the week. It might be a couples get together at one of our houses. For a 40th  birthday one year we took a couples trip together to Puerto Vallarta. We are a part of each others lives and I, for one, am thankful.

I mentioned that our kids are so close that they are like cousins. One of the girls in the group was planning her birthday party. She told her mom she just wanted a “family party” that year. That didn’t mean mom, dad, siblings and grandma. That meant a party with all of our families together. I was so touched that my family was included in her family birthday party. In fact, the kids are so close we had a photographer take some pictures of all of them together.

One of the best things about this picture is how the kids are arranged. The photographer didn’t tell them where to stand. She just pointed them in the general direction. I love that none of the kids are standing next to their sibling. They are all mixed up like a large family would be. And that’s just what they all are, extended family.

We take vacations together as couples. We take vacations together as families. Our kids all get along so well that we can plan almost anything together and know that it will be a success. The older ones take care of the little ones. The kids of all ages get along amazingly well. In fact, whenever we schedule a vacation, my kids are a little disappointed if one of these families aren’t going with us.

My point here is that girlfriends are essential to your soul. They are essential to your family unit. Even if your family doesn’t bond with your girlfriend’s family that’s OK. You are a better person for having close girlfriends. And that means you are a better wife and mother for having them as well! What about you? Do you have a close girlfriend? Are you the friend to someone that you want them to be to you? Is your life richer because your friend is a part of it? Tell us about her!