Beautiful Old Broads talk more about Friendship

Dear Ones,  

Joan Rivers used to lean in and say “Can we talk?” in that throaty voice of hers.  I am asking can we talk…some more about friendship and friends?  I’ve been dwelling on the subjects all week on and off.

Did get a few emails back from y’all.  One gal said she has joined a neighborhood quilting group and wonders…will they become dear friends?  Maybe, maybe not.  I’m in some groups and we’ve met for years and years.  Still though we are compatible and I look forward to the meetings, most of the ladies have not become my bosom friends.  That’s not to say, I don’t value them.  I do.  However, we don’t usually interface except for the days we meet. Upon examination, that’s probably my fault.  As I said last week, making close friends takes effort. 

In his book called “The Tipping Point”, Mark Gladwell makes some observations on friendship.  He claims that studies show about 88 percent of friends live near-by and are of the same age and race.  But living close is the biggest factor.  Proximity overpowers similarity. Another study, he claims says that you usually have friends who share the same interest.  No arguments there, but as we grow into our later years, some of us shift gears, take up new activities, move…move again…but we carry our friends like the crab who carries his house on his back. 

So many movies and books about friends.  Two of my favorite movies:  “Beaches” with Bette Midler, a tear jerker and “Four Seasons” starring Carol Burnett and Alan Alda.  Lots of friendship examined in that movie but the best part is when the dentist’s Mercedes sinks slowly through the ice to the gentle strains of Vivaldi.  Another book I read recently is “Lets Take the Long Way Home”, by Gail Caldwell.  This is a gripping emotional memoir about female friendship.  Warning: Sad…have tissues nearby.  The soul of the book is the two best friends and the heart of it is their intertwined relationship with their dogs. 

None of these books or movies says much about friendship in later years, friendships that have to be knitted together with silver hairs and braided with our past histories.  But we all know how precious a special friend is, don’t we? 

            “The mature woman is one who is in that stage of life where she may not see eye                           to eye with another, but she can still walk hand in hand”