Girl Friends

Men have countless advantages over women.  They often get better jobs, make more money and have far more opportunities.  Men don't have to chose between families and careers. When men marry and start families they are considered stable and tend to advance in their career.  Men, unlike women, even have an easier time aging.  When men get gray hair they are described as distinguished. If they start balding, they shave their entire head and claim to be trendy.  For crying out loud, men don't even have to sit down to pee!  They have never known the paralyzing fear of having to use some god-awful Allsups bathroom somewhere along Highway 83 between Mernard and Kerrville.  Seriously, they have never had to stand there, thighs quivering as you attempt to pee without touching that nasty toilet.  If you ask me, that sounds like a pretty good gig.  But, there is something that women have that men never will, girl friends.  I don't mean girlfriends, I mean girl friends. 
Only women know the pure happiness and fulfillment that we get from our relationships with other women.  Sure, men have friends.  They go out and get a beer, watch a basketball game or take a weekend fishing trip.  They do have that, but men don't have a RELATIONSHIPS with their friends.  Women have girl friends with whom they are emotionally and spiritually tied.  Every woman has a small circle of friends that complete her world.  The beauty of girl friends is that they know you, love you and accept you for the wonderful mess you are. 
When you are a girl, they are the friends that you talked to on the phone for hours about boys and homework and the injustice of curfews.  They spent the night at your house and fought with your siblings as if they were their own. In my world, these friends are Melissa and Staci and we were inseparable .  In college, these are the friends who made sure you didn't get left in the bathroom of the bar after last call and who took an Ag Science course with you just so you could stare at the hot guy whose name you didn't even know. In my world these friends are Kim and Nadia.  As an adult, these friends wore ugly bridesmaids dresses and planned unforgettable bachelorette parties.  They rejoiced in the news of your pregnancy and relished in the comfort of knowing they weren't the only ones to experience engorged boobs and post-delivery diarrhea.  They understood and consoled you during the first weeks and months of parenting and your sleep deprived craziness.  In my world these friends are Cindy, Amy, and Kara.  The real beauty of girl friends is that the bond lasts a lifetime.  I could pick up the phone right now and call any one of these friends and we would pick up right where we left off. 
Girl friends can laugh and be silly.  Girl friends tell each other their hopes, dreams, and fears. We can say what we think without worry of judgement or ridicule.  We can even 'ugly cry' in front of our girl friends.  You know the type of crying where your nose and mascara run, your face gets red and blotchy, and you let out the occasional snort.  Can you imagine a man ever being that vulnerable in front of another man.  Yes, men have some advantages but they don't have girl friends.   We might not be able to pee standing up but you can bet we'll have a girl friend near by to hold our purse while we wobbily hover over a dirty Allsups toilet!!