When the Girls Get Together

I spent this morning at a surprise birthday party for my friend, Lisa. There were twelve of us at the party and we all love Lisa very much. Upon first glance, it was like any other birthday party you might attend. We ate, we laughed, Lisa opened gifts, we sang Happy Birthday – all the fun stuff one would associate with a birthday party. But, at one point I was struck by the incredible bond that women have with each other. We were all asked to share something about Lisa that was special to us. One woman shared how Lisa had come to clean her house when she was stuck in bed. Others shared funny stories of adventures they’d had with Lisa. And another shared how much she appreciated Lisa’s willingness to always jump in and get the job done, whatever it is.

But one person shared something that I had never heard before. She said that there are certain endorphins that are released in a woman’s body when she gets together with her girl friends. When these endorphins mix with our estrogen it’s like having a really good therapy session. So, she thanked Lisa for being good therapy!

I’ll be honest here, I didn’t “Google” this information to check its accuracy, because quite honestly, I’m going to choose to believe it’s true, regardless of what I read. I don’t need Google to tell me that getting together with my girlfriends is good for me. I know that when I walk away.

After I heard about this “girlfriend therapy” I sat back for a bit and watched the girlfriends interact with each other, and share their favorite “Lisa” story. And, what I realized was that this was an extraordinary moment. How often do we, as women, take the time to tell a friend how much they mean to us? Or relive a favorite moment of our times with them? Our lives get so busy that we sometimes forget to tell someone what they mean to us. Or, we promise to get together and have lunch and suddenly, five months have passed and nothing is even on the calendar.

I, for one, am going to be more deliberate about getting together with my friends. You see, not only did I feel better when I left the party today, but I actually had physical proof of my improved well-being. On my way home I had to go to the doctor and, as always, they checked my blood pressure. It tends to run on the high side of “normal.” Today, though, it was significantly lower than usual. With proof like that, who needs Google? When I told my husband about my blood pressure he said, “You should go to a birthday party every day.” Is it any wonder why I love him?