I mean, how was your Christmas, really...

A friend asked me that today, and she's one of the few people I can actually tell the whole, bizarre truth to. I have to have those kind of people in my life, because not everyone "gets it". And if you've ever really, really struggled with parenting special needs kids, you know what I mean.

But I know I also need those other friends in my life too. Not everyone needs (or wants) to know all the gory details of my life, and frankly, I don't want to know theirs either. I have great friends. And a great variety of friends too. And I cherish them all, because they haven't abandoned me when I feel the need to cancel coffee dates or when I'm in a really really bad funk. I don't need to always be whining about my life, I'm quite content to listen to other people whine about theirs. Many times, it makes my whining seem inconsequential, and other times I know I would win in the "Battle of the Whines".

What do guys do? My husband seems to destress by watching the news and hockey. But he works with people all day long and really enjoys not having to talk to anyone else at the end of a stressful day. Me, I spend my work hours usually in front of my lap top in my home office, so I usually only talk to people on the phone during the day. (Or my cat...) Which, yes, can be somewhat isolating and I need to make more of an effort to get up off my butt and go meet a friend for coffee or make a movie date with a girlfriend.

I know I could easily end up being one of those old ladies with 99 cats who yells at the neighborhood kids as they walk by.

But I digress. One of the great things about my job with AFABC is the number of families that I get to meet and connect with. And some of those families have become good friends and I always look forward to AFABC social events to catch up with everyone.

I'm also a firm believer that people come in to our lives at certain times for certain reasons. And some of the women that I feel the closest to, are friends that I don't see on a regular basis, but we just pick up where we left off every time we meet. (Usually that involves wine or chocolate or some combination of the two!)

So, even though I never forward or return those emails from friends who want me to pass along the email to 10 friends saying what a great friend/woman they are, I still believe my girlfriends are what keep me sane! Thanks for being there.