Girlfriends

Judy. Traveling as we do, I do not have a great many girlfriends in my daily life, but I have developed some beautiful friendships over the past years in various places around the world. Spending time with them is a gift I cherish, whether for weeks, days, or even, on occasion, a few hours.

In the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to stay with some amazing women. 

Patty and I met in Santiago, Chile, at a church we attended. She is from Calgary, Alberta, a place I knew nothing about. In the few weeks we spent there before returning to our respective countries, we developed a deep friendship that grew over texts and emails in the following years. The recent visit with her was only our second since the time we met, yet despite many different interests, we see like minds in each other. She’s taken me to meet her friends, like Lorena. Seeing Patty is like coming home, with confidences and laughter shared, and a deep understanding as if we’d known each other since childhood. I feel renewed after visiting her. 

Patty (L) and her longtime friend Lorena celebrate Canada Day

We met Leanne and Tony while in Oaxaca, and hiked with them several times, volunteered to feed the refugees, and wandered the city, so we definitely took them up on the invite to stay in their beautiful home in Nanaimo, British Colombia. Leanne and I found time to spend together, and found ourselves pouring out family history and concerns and love. Caught in a traffic jam, we left our fellas in the car and ran to explore the Cathedral Grove of trees, like two kids ducking out of school. 

Leanne is a great friend to hike with and share confidences

Sue and Terry we’ve known for years. They were huge supporters of the drama program I taught, and both their daughters were my students. Somewhere along the line we began to travel together, and Sue and I have shared pride and concern in our kids (the same age), joy in the countries and states we’ve visited (together and separately), and a rising concern for the split we see in our own country. We try to visit them yearly in their present home of Olympia, Washington. This last time, we arrived while they were away for a few days, and they gave us the key and had food and wine waiting for us. There's some trust there.

Years of travel and raising kids

There's Nancy in Santa Barbara, whom we met when going to Iceland. We got along so well that Ted and I drove a couple of hundred miles out of our way to spend time with her and her husband Mike.

Nancy can see right into your heart

These are just a few of the women in my life who make it richer. There’s also Samara in Morocco, Inmita in Spain, Caroline in France, Wakaba in Japan, and Sylvie in Montreal. There's Anne in Vero Beach, Linda in Augusta, and Meghan in Athens. There are Sally and Carolyn in Snellville, and Pam in Gainesville.There’s my daughter, my daughter-in-love, Ted’s sisters, and a plethora of nieces and cousins. Some of my former students come to Athens for a lunch with me. There are the dear women in my Zoom Bible study, several of whom I’ve known in person for years. 

While it’s a lack in my life not to have lots of girlfriends in Athens to go out with for coffee or lunch or cocktails on a regular basis, we do the best we can to catch up when we meet. Girlfriends are a true blessing. 

“Make new friends, but keep the old, One is silver, and the other gold.”