Girl Love

No, no, not that kind of love. I'm talking about girlfriend love. The kind of girlfriend love that made us all weep, laugh, and miss our friends like crazy when we all watched Sex in the City.

{Warning: the following contains spoilers. DO NOT keep reading if you've not yet seen the movie. Then get yourself to the theater, girlfriend!!}

The movie came to Quito last Friday and I finally went last night with a new friend (and weekend running partner, thank goodness) here. And I must tell you, we both boo-hooed the whole time. But so did all the local women, which is a great thing about this story--it bridges cultural gaps. I guess I just didn't realize how much I missed those 4 women, but it all came rushing back. Nadia and I were talking about just what it is that makes this story so special to women of our generation. Personally, I think it became popular right when we were all realizing we had better cherish and take care of our female relationships. Maybe this is a bit far-fetched, but I credit this story with planting in our collective subconcious a reminder to cultivate and keep our best girlfriends, because we need each other.

If we're fortunate and smart in high school, we can emerge with true girlfriends, though most times they don't really become as special to you until later. Our late teens and early 20's, we spend being scared to death of each other, claiming we "get along better" with guys and that's why we have so many guyfriends. By our late 20's, most of us are realizing that no matter how much our man loves us, he will never be able to really understand and feel the things we feel. And now we know that no matter how great our guyfriends are, they will never scream "NO!!! NO!!!!!!!!" at the man who has just left you at the alter. They will never venture out in their pajamas to be with you when you're lonely on New Years. They will never understand when you need to sleep for two days straight, and they will not spoon-feed you breakfast when you finally agree to eat. But women do these things for their best friends because they are women, and that makes all the difference.

So here's to my best girlfriends (I miss you SO much), as well as my girlfriends who I feel like maybe one day I could have this kind of relationship with, and to my girlfriends-to-come because now that I know, I'm looking for you and I'm not going to let you slip by.