Time with the tribe

This one is about friendship. The long-lasting kind. I've just got back from a reunion weekend with my university besties and I'm still basking in the after-glow. We drank too much champagne/wine/gin, ate too much chocolate/cake/canapés and contended with Storm Ciara, but my goodness it was worth it!

The journey's more fun with friends

Picture credit: Harriet Bell

So often we take our friendships for granted, particularly during the decades of parenthood and middle age. Even the early narratives of our lives are spun around meeting a romantic partner, or having a child... and yet in the background, friendships run deep like a rich seam.

This past weekend allowed us the luxury to reconnect. To be able to talk for hours on end about everything and nothing, to be our true selves and to laugh without inhibition (cackle) was good for the soul. 

Although we've all bickered over the years and no doubt taken umbrage at the odd throwaway comment, our relationships have stood the test of time. In all the busyness of everyday life, we no longer live in each other's pockets - like we once did - but within seconds of meeting up, we fall back into our easy, old ways. 

Such reunions shore up your confidence and bring the past rushing back in. I remember with so much affection those girls from nearly thirty years ago - their red lipstick, curly hair, slow-burn smiles and keen intelligence. Equally, I am so proud of the strong, assertive women they have become. It has been a privilege to share parts of that journey with them.

One of my friends reminded us of this quote by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats: "Think where man's glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."

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*News flash* It has been a while since I blogged. For the past few months, I've been super-busy writing a book for the NHS and managing a house-renovation project. Hopefully, I'll be back into my blogging stride soon. Thank you for continuing to read An Author's Notebook in my absence. I have a new novel to put out on Kindle during the next few months and I've started writing another - guess what, it's partly about female friendship...


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