Showering me with love...

It was almost 30 years ago that the four of us met, while our husbands were attending dental school at UCSF.  

Wow!  Thirty years sounds so long ago, especially since we were all in our early 20's at that time of our lives. 

We were young newlyweds, poor and busy putting our husbands through school, 

 living in married student housing together in San Francisco.  

It sounds so cliche' to say that these were "the best times of our life" but truly they were.  

Even while we were going through those dental school years, we would all agree 

that those days living up on the hill above Parnassus Drive were really special, almost magical 

because of the close friendships that we made and the experiences that we went through together.

The four of us, along with a handful of other gals first met at the Dental Wive's Auxiliary opening social.

This group met often in the evening, planning and participating in social activities 

that would keep us busy and preoccupied while our husbands studied every night.

We often joked that we spent more time together than we did with our husbands during those years.

We all had our first kids while husbands were in school and we would always threw a big shower for each other.

These are my dear friends that threw a baby shower for each of my children 

(except Allison because we were in Oklahoma.)

And I don't know why I thought it would be any different when the grandkids came,

but their kindness did surprise me and brought tears to my eyes, 

when I arrived at Mary's house in Clayton on Tuesday morning to join the gals for "just lunch" 

and was greeted with sweet gifts in celebration of the impending arrival of my first grandchild!

I love these gals more than they will ever know.

We have celebrated some of the happiest times of our lives together

and unfortunately, supported and been there for each other through some of the saddest times.

This past year has been especially tough, probably one of the hardest things I've had to do 

is watch my dear friend, Mary, lose her husband and sweetheart.

I won't go into details now because it is still so near and dear to my heart

and I can't even wrap my head around it all.

But this experience has brought us even closer, as we have leaned on each other for comfort and strength.

 I have watched these friends love and support each other in ways that I never knew before

and I'm learning what it really means to be "willing to mourn with those that mourn; 

yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort."  Mosiah 18:9.

While we still grieve and are sad for our dear Mary, we are grateful that we can still laugh together 

and after all these years, we can find joy in knowing that have each other 

to celebrate the happy times that still await us as we grow old together!

Tuesday morning was one of those happy days of celebration and joy!

Thank you, Mary, Laurie and Molly, for showering me with love!