WHOOP WHOOP!!!! I’m on my way out to hang with a gal pal & we won’t let the rain or our long days & low energy stop us!!! We don’t know where we’re going (other than to eat), but we know in the next few hours we’ll be sitting across from each other at a small table – laughing, dishing, self-disclosing, and munching while catching up on all that we have or need to have going on in our lives. Lol.

I so cherish this time and am fortunate that I have more girlfriends than I have enough time to hang with. But we schedule and meet as best we can (and sometimes re-schedule). All dates aren’t glamorous. Sometimes it’s impromptu. Sometimes it’s on the couch whispering in low tones (because others – men in particular- are in the next room). Sometimes it’s seeing a show together, sitting in the park sipping lemonade in lawn chairs, shopping for make-up, or going for a run when we refuse to leave each other in unsexy land!

Because my cancer and chemo force me to be at home to recover, I have found that the girl squad I built looong before cancer knew my name is a HUGE part of what carries me through my circumstances today. Not a day goes by that one of my SUPERWOMEN friends doesn’t reach out to me in some form or fashion to see how I’m doing. It’s the getting together that reminds me who I am, how I love, what’s important, gives me space to let off steam, and relate to dynamic women while also allowing me to completely be the Jai I am not when I am in all my other roles (wife, daughter, sister, patient, ministry leader, employee, neighbor, and the list goes on). But not only do I get it, I try my best to be a great girlfriend to those I have in my life and those I meet. Always adding to my squad!

I share, not just to brag that my fem friends are the CREME DE LA CREME, but to hear your perspective of your own CDLC stats and to encourage you to build your squad if you don’t already have one. This goes for ladies and men. We all need people that we can get together with and laugh at silly jokes, share new resources, reminisce on old times, plot on future dreams, and feel liked, heard, validated, respected, or whatever it is you need a dose of at that time. Many other relationships and roles will fade in life, and none of us wants to end up eating cat food alone. So cheers to having a partner or two to dos-i-dos!

So??? Do you agree? Disagree? What’s your CDLC stat looking like?  What’s your experience & your perspective on actively connecting to a great group of friends that make your life richer?