I have been so richly blessed with the friendships in my life.

I am grateful for the afternoon play dates when the kids would run around and the Moms would talk through life it all it's glory and mess.

I am grateful for the mentoring friendships that willingly walked me through some of the most confusing times.

I am grateful for the girlfriends who have known me since before braces and before blowdryers entered my world.

I am grateful for late night tea. For early morning coffee. For long walks. For Toronto evenings. For venting phone calls at any hour of the day. For friends who were willing to change diapers, make dinner, handle bath time and read stories.

I am grateful for consistency. For knowing that we will all be there for each other even if there is a time lapse from the last girls get-together or 3000 miles between us.

I am grateful for prayers. For shoulders to cry on. For the honour of being a shoulder to someone else, and for "I get it" even when I need a good scolding. I am grateful for the good scolding without the "I get it" too.

I am grateful for the laundry folding my friends have done. For the walls they have painted beside me. For the dishes they've washed. For the bottles of wine they brought over.

I am grateful for the parties they showed up to. The Birthdays, the New Years Celebrations, the Goodbye parties.

I am grateful for the amazing women who said they believed in me. Especially when I was overtired, overworked, unshowered and still in my pyjamas. Their words pushed me through.

Days get long and full. Schedules fill up, exhaustion gets in the way, kids get older, life shifts but I've NEVER forgotten one of these women. I am grateful still.