A nineteen year old girl sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and talking with her mother.  As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter.

Don't forget your Sisters, she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass.  They'll be more important as you get older.  No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need Sisters.  Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them.

Remember that Sisters means ALL the women....your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too.

You'll need other women.  Women always do.

What a funny piece of advice! the teenager thought.  Haven't I just gotten engaged?  Haven't I just joined the couple world?  I'm now a grownup! Surely my fiancee and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!

But she listed to her Mother.  She kept contact with her Sisters and made more women friends each year.  As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mother really knew what she was talking about.  As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, Sisters are the mainstays of her life.

After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've learned:

Time passes.

Life happens.

Distance separates.

Children grow up.

Jobs come and go.

Love waxes and wanes.

Men don't do what they're supposed to do.

Hearts break.

Parents die.

Colleagues forget favors.

Careers end.

BUT...

Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you.  A girl friend is never farther away then needing her can reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you. Or come in and carry you out.

Realize your Sisters are your: girl friends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins and extended family.  Each and every connection a blessing ;-)

Another thought to share.....

" I friend of mine just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mind-body connection--the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin--a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings?--rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged--not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking! So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health."