Thank God For Girlfriends

Last night, my girl and I went up to Long Island to have dinner at my other girlfriend's house. She recently got engaged and bought a house with her fiance', so it was due time to visit the new spot and meet the young, strapping lad that she's planning her life with. The townhouse was warm and nicely decorated. Her fiance' was taller and more welcoming than I imagined. And after Mr. Fiance' ate and left the 3 of us girlfriends to our shenanigans, we became closer than I ever remembered. I think it had something to do with the huge bottle of white Zif that magically disappeared over the course of the night. As we talked, laughed, discussed our men issues, looked at old pictures and watched the BET marathon of Girlfriends on her flat screen tv, I couldn't help but notice that we were exact replicas of the professional and beautiful African-American women living out their lifes for our entertainment. I think we've all done this before - matched up our girlfriends with the characters on the show (either Girlfriends or Sex and the City), but I've never had a set of girlfriends who were so dead on to the personalities, styles and attitudes of those women. It took us no longer than 2 seconds to match each other up to the characters. While I don't have a "Lynn", I definitely have a "Mya" and a "Toni". So, I guess you know who that makes me. Yep. I am most linked to that wonderful and neurotic den mother we've all come to love, "Joan". It was most obvious to make the style connection first being that I was wearing the exact same outfit last night that Joan wore during the episode we were watching at the time. Go figure. But as we analyzed my desires, dreams, and goals, I started to see that I'm more like Joan than I would like to admit. Because of recent experiences, I too have this thing with marriage, men and relationships that seem to be forefront on my mind. But unlike Joan, I refuse to let it rule my life. Joan's obsession with marriage has more times than not sabotaged her relationships and friendships. There's not a chance that I will let those most common 'woman issues' plague my day to day activities. I used to think Joan was insane, but the older I get, the more I understand her. As we watched reruns, I empathized with her cravings and often felt bad for her. Remember when Joan's fiance' had to leave to fullfill his duties in the war? My heart broke for her... just when happiness was starting to make a nest in her heart. Too bad that she had such a struggle finding happiness on her own and within herself. But anyway, "Girlfriends" was a good show and I miss it. It's a good thing I have my own sitcomed life and set of "girlfriends" to fill the void.

I absolutely love my girlfriends. From 3J to the "Girlfriends" crew to my MD sisters to my newfound crazy TU buddies. Spending time with them is beyond therapeutic. I've never realized how much I need them. Thank God for girlfriends.