One of the greatest blessing in my life has been the relationship I have with what I lovingly refer to as "The Girlfriends". We have raised our kids together, went through the loss of parents together, watched our children leave the nest one by one together and celebrated numerous milestones of life together. We are close knit, bound together and very protective of our relationship. Our friendship isn't something that just happened over night, it evolved over time with each and every twist and turn that life has thrown our way. As we've gotten older we have begun to realize that it is a unique bond that is not only shared by us, but also by our husbands and children. We are a family. Three weeks ago, one of the girlfriends receive the dreaded news that she had breast cancer. It actually took about a week for it to really sink in that this was happening to her. She took the news with incredible faith and has the best outlook possible. Tomorrow she faces a total mastectomy. A surgery like that is just... well, words can't really describe but monumental will have to do. We felt that something like that just couldn't happen without some sort of recognition so we decided to throw a "Bye Bye Boobie Party". When I first told my husband, he was like, "hmm, you think that is really appropriate"? Actually next to a prayer meeting (we are in constant prayer concerning this already) I couldn't think of anything more appropriate. We've got one of two ways to look at this, one is with dread and the other is a sense of humor. Out of those two options we all agreed humor would serve her much better than doom and gloom, so let the party begin. Last night we partied with a precious boob cake, she wore a boob crown and we told boob jokes.... It was all things boobs. We wore our cancer awareness pink snuggies and toward the end of the evening we ventured outside with boob balloons in hand to let go and say goodbye to her boob. It was one of the sweetest memories I have, the love, the support and the fun had by all. The next few months will not be fun for her or for us. There will be times when she doesn't feel well or feel positive and we are preparing ourselves for that time. The best we can do is just be there for her and love her through this. As our boob balloons floated away into the night sky we all waved and realized the possibility that if this could happen to her, a woman of tremendous faith, it could happen to any of us. It made us aware that hey, we need to get those annual mammos and do regular exams. It also made us even more aware that our relationship is even more important in times like these. When you have to say goodbye, it's nice to have others standing with you to hold your hand, wipe a tear and maybe even crack a joke.. After all what are friends for.
