the future is not something we enter, but something we create

I received one of those annoying e-mail forwards yesterday. But for some reason I actually stopped and read it. It's a chick message about remembering to keep in touch with the women in your life...sisters, girlfriends, aunts, mother, grandmothers...because in times of true trouble, they will be your support, strength and guide.

I suddenly remembered reading this exact same message years ago. I specifically remember exactly where I was when I read it the first time, so I can tell you it was in 96'-'97. This was a time when I was so engrossed in being a mother to two preschool age girls and building my career in a new city, that I spent no time with girlfriends or even, really, in paying attention to the women who had been my friends. I remember that something about this message really struck me and, as I read it, I made an intentional decision to reconnect with my friends and to make new friends. I decided to invest in the people in my life outside what was then my little family of four.

I truly have spent the last 15 years building friendships...and not just

female friendships (I still miss Dave daily)...but in being a friend and having friends. I am so lucky to have made this investment. It has paid off...in spades. The greatest investment I ever made.

But circling back to that e-mail...it is true. It is largely (although not exclusively) my female friends who have held me up through the last two years. Who knocked me upside the head with honest truth when I needed it and who have wrapped me in their arms, when I needed that. I am lucky indeed.