Mom Friendships

Friendships.

Here’s what I feel about grownup friendships. When you reach a certain age and maturity, everything you knew before about friendship goes out the window. You finally realize what real friendship is like.

You have Friends on Facebook. The friends who always like and love your photos. The friends who comment on how cute your kids are and you do the same to theirs. The ones you give advice to and watch their whole life story unravel according to Facebook. You love seeing their family grow and continue on. You secretly wish you were real life friends, but only say hi in real life. Those are your Facebook friends.

You have friends you have been friends with your entire life. They have been to several family functions, stayed summers with your family and still to this day they show up when you least expect it. They are the ones who were there when you found out you were pregnant with your first born, and was the first to show up at your house when you lost someone. They are the ones who call your dad “dad or pops” and not by his actual name. They are friends with your entire family. Those are family friends.

You have friends who you’ve been friends with for a long time, but you’ve grown apart or something happened that neither of you can let go. You always said your kids would grow up together and they didn’t. You keep saying your going to try to get together and you don’t. You see each other out and all the friendship flutters come back. Although you hoped to rekindle your friendship, you know deep down that the odds are it won’t rekindle. You all have good intention and wish it could, but it won’t. Those are the miss-you friends.

You have friends at work. The ones who know about your entire day. You talk about everything in life to them and learn every little detail about them. You see a lot of them almost more than your own family. Those are your work friends.

You have literal family friends: sisters, brothers, aunts, cousins, cousin-in-laws and so forth. Those are the friends that you know for a fact can’t get rid of you. They are the friends that regardless of how dramatic you’re being, what an emotional wreck you’ve become or how boring you are - they have no choice except to love you through it. I’m sure they could just drop you off somewhere and not look back, but they won’t. Family is stuck like glue. They are family.

Then, you have the fierce friends. Those friends who would literally take a bullet for you and not just say it. The friends that come over to hear you cry about how your husband ate all the pizza, or come bath your baby so you can take a 20 minute nap. They are the friends who check on you everyday or just say hi to let you know they are there. They are the friends who are praying for you, daily. They are the friends who don’t leave without saying love y’all. They love your kids exactly like they love their own, and their family loves your kids as well. Those are the forever and ever friends.

And... if you’re lucky enough, you have a Mom. She’s the woman who helped you become this crazy loving mom yourself. She the one you call 10 times a day and sometimes just to sit there on the phone with her. She’s the one you call to tell her how good your burger was from the restaurant and call on your lunch break just to tell about your day so far. She’s the one you call because your husband is at work, and you just got home to a dark scary house. She’s the one you call when your baby has a bump on her arm, or your kid is running a high fever. She’s the one you talk to about the new hallmark movie and the one who rubs your head when you have a migraine. She’s the one that will be there as long as you both are here on earth.

But.. of course you have your other half. The one who keeps you steady on a daily basis and drives you crazy all in the same day. The one you tell your entire day too and never get tired of talking to them. The one you cry to when you’ve had a bad day. The one who manages to make everything better with one look. The one who kisses your forehead and the world disappears. The one you can’t live without. That is your forever love.

Not everyone has this last group of friends. The friends who have also lost little ones. The ones who understand you even without knowing you truly. They understand the waves of emotions being a grieving mother is. They understand the hurt and pain you feel everyday. They understand that it never stops, and how nothing can replace that empty whole in your heart. They understand things that no one else can understand about you. Those are the angel friends.

Everyone adds value to your life by being there for a split second or a lifetime. It shapes you into the person you are. Love these people. They’re all your friends in some way.

#friendships #momlife #mom #momfriends