The Wisdom of Girlfriends
Last Saturday night I went out with my high school girlfriends. Just to clarify, these are friends I’ve had since high school which was a long, long time ago, not friends I might have who currently attend high school. That would just be weird.
Anyway, even though we’ve been friends for a long, long time, I always leave our get-togethers a little wiser. Here are just a few of the night’s pearls of wisdom that made me laugh (and that I can share here).
On children: “What can you do? Pour yourself a drink and lock yourself in your room.”
On sex: “I had to get off the phone - we had only 48 minutes.” “So what’d you do with the leftover 40 minutes?”
On beauty: “Promise me you’ll do my nails and eyebrows if my husband puts me in a home.”
On infidelity: “I’m convinced – the difference between slut and non-slut is opportunity.”
No matter how these bites may sound taken out of context, each was spoken as a small part of my friend’s sense of life: that life is good and made even better when you can share it with good friends. In one brief summer evening we laughed at each other’s foibles, reveled in each other’s triumphs, commiserated with each other’s heartaches, and enjoyed the values we each hold that helped make us friends all those years ago.
We’ve consumed the proverbial salt together for over 30 years now. I appreciate what each of them adds to my life and the rarity of our friendships.
Anyway, even though we’ve been friends for a long, long time, I always leave our get-togethers a little wiser. Here are just a few of the night’s pearls of wisdom that made me laugh (and that I can share here).
On children: “What can you do? Pour yourself a drink and lock yourself in your room.”
On sex: “I had to get off the phone - we had only 48 minutes.” “So what’d you do with the leftover 40 minutes?”
On beauty: “Promise me you’ll do my nails and eyebrows if my husband puts me in a home.”
On infidelity: “I’m convinced – the difference between slut and non-slut is opportunity.”
No matter how these bites may sound taken out of context, each was spoken as a small part of my friend’s sense of life: that life is good and made even better when you can share it with good friends. In one brief summer evening we laughed at each other’s foibles, reveled in each other’s triumphs, commiserated with each other’s heartaches, and enjoyed the values we each hold that helped make us friends all those years ago.
“Friendships of this kind are likely to be rare; for such people are few. They require time and familiarity too; for, as the adage puts it, it is impossible for people to know one another until they have consumed the proverbial salt together; nor can people admit one another to friendship, or be friends at all, until each has been proved lovable and trustworthy to the other.”
Aristotle, The Nichomachean Ethics [Book VIII, ch. 4]
We’ve consumed the proverbial salt together for over 30 years now. I appreciate what each of them adds to my life and the rarity of our friendships.
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