Most people that get into serious relationships can lose sight of their close female friendships. I know I'm guilty of this. When I met Fiance, I got swept away by everything about him... his sweet smile, his beautiful eyes, his deep voice and the way he looked at me after he kissed me. But most of all, I got swept away by how much time I wanted to spend with him.
I've never been a 24/7 girlfriend. The few guys I did actually date were either long distance or short, high school flings. Even then, though, I kept them all at arm's length. I preferred my family's company, or my close girlfriends' company over the boys in my life. But not with Fiance. I wanted to be with him all the time and even better, he wanted to be with me as often as I wanted to be with him. So we were.
And we still are. Even now, I prefer to be around him. He's not only my fiance, he's also my best friend. But in the midst of this, I think I lost track of the wonderful female relationships in my life.
I've tried really hard to keep my girlfriends close and I know a lot of them (especially those who are married/engaged/in a serious relationship now) understand how it is.
When Fiance and I first got engaged, I thought immediately about the great women I have in my life and how much I wanted them to stand by me when I marry Fiance. It had been a long time since I sat back and appreciated my female friendships. These girls have been with me since high school or before. They have been there with me for everything big in my life. They decorated my locker for birthdays. They danced with me at high school dances. We laughed and cried and inside-joked our way through years and years of friendship. They were there with me for everything. Val was the first person I told when Fiance asked me out. When I got engaged, the first thing I did was send a text message to my best friends with a picture of the ring and a smiley face.
I'm incredibly lucky to have more than just a handful of close friends (also, something to note, I count "friends" as people you could call at 2:00 in the morning if you ran out of gas and they would help immediately). There are Val, Kaitlyn, and Adriana, my high school group (the Sisterhood!). Danielle, one of my first friends ever. Blairre, with whom I have gone through SO much (boys, Starbucks trips, as a bridesmaid in her wedding, in the hospital on the day she gave birth to both of her beautiful babies). The wonderful Pi Phis: Trish. Dianna, my little. Kelsey. And then my newer friends: Vanessa. Ellie. My family: my sister Jess, my cousin Steph. And my new family: Jasmine, Alex, Fiance's aunts...
Obviously, I don't have fourteen bridesmaids. I have five. These five were chosen based on a lot of things (the longevity of the friendship, the pressure/cost it would put on the girl, etc.), but it doesn't negate all of the other wonderful friendships in my life. As I move into this next chapter in my life, these girls will be next to me (and Fiance!). And for that, I'm so, so grateful.
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