It's A Dirty Job, But Somebody's Got To Do It

A few weeks ago I took 3 days of parenting classes for foster and foster to adopt parents. It felt similar to a 'Scared Straight' session with a few Hallmark moments here and there, and at the end of the week we were asked, "Well, are you still up for this or is it too much for you?"

I stopped and thought long and hard about...

all the clutter from toys,
all the noises in my home,
how exhausted I will be from long nights awake, hugging and comforting,
how my clothes will be wrinkled and possibly covered in spit up,
and then I imagined someone calling me "Mommy".

The answer is so obvious.

4

There are people who come into our lives, and they are meant to be in it until our golden years.
These people are your best girlfriends.
I was blessed to meet mine when I was 10.
My single mother met hers when I was also 10.

The 4 of us have shared moments that have been funny, triumphant, and forever life changing.

1.  We have shared blue hair at The Flock of Seagulls concert.
2.  We have shared the birth of a first child and the adoption of a first.
3.  We have shared the success of careers that took one to Europe and another career that raised and supported more than one family.
4.  We have shared the heartache of losing our hearts to men and our loved ones to cancer.
5.  We have shared vacations on islands and mountains where getting lost should always be on the agenda for us 4.

And now we have started a new tradition of sharing one weekend a year with just the 4 of us.

A few weeks ago, we spent the day and night downtown meeting Betty White in an interview, drinking lots of wine and eating delicious Italian food.
We wore comfy pajamas, watched chick flicks, laughed until we cried, and ate chocolate cake standing up.

I look forward to next year's '4 Get Together'. Who knows what stories, confessions, or embarrassing moments we will share then.

Thank you ladies for being there through the blue hair, success and failures thus far, and for reminding me no matter how lost we get we can always find each other at 201 Franklin...or was it Main Street?