Homegirls and BFFs

me & Keno

So I’m in the J Crew dressing room one Saturday, trying on their latest confection. Outside I hear, “Kalie, you in here? It’s Christy, your BFF.”

Kalie and her BFF Christy were promptly reunited. How sweet. Meanwhile in my little stall, I was coming undone.

“Where is my BFF? Why can’t I have a BFF?” I said to myself. “I need a BFF to find me another size and bring me more cute stuff to try on and tell me how good it looks. All I have is…is…is Keno the salesperson!…(whimper)…”

Now I love me some Keno. And I love me some Desiree, Mary, Michael, and the rest of the très chic staff at my local J Crew store. I only learned what BFF means a few months ago when I joined Facebook. Didn’t realize it was the need of the moment until then.

me & K

Truth is I have plenty of BFFs, thank you very much, Kalie and Christy. I don’t limit myself either. There’s enough love to go around.

That particular Saturday, one of my BFFs was at a first grade basketball game, another at a Girl Scout cookie meeting, another busy at work in her home office. Beautiful and responsible, those girls.

Half a dozen or so of my BFFs from high school still live 750 miles away in the place we grew up. Like to think of them as the Homegirls. They make me laugh like no one else on earth can.

My college BFFs are dotted along I-40 in exotic locales like Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Asheville. Two more live on polar opposite coasts with me smack-dab in the middle of the heartland. These women knew me before I knew me.

There’s my Chicago BFF who now lives in Milwaukee. And my sassy St. Louis BFF who moved to Cincinnati last year. Miss them terribly.

Then there are my BFFs who are married to my husband’s best friends–each the epitomy of grace. The guys are swell, too.

me & A & B

Add to that my old church and work BFFs, my BSF BFFs (try saying that fast three times), my new BFFs I’m cultivating offline and online, and my fabulous lifelong BFFs who also happen to be related to me by blood or marriage.

Any of these women would have gone shopping with me that Saturday if it were possible. But life happens.

me & K

Husbands and significant others happen. Divorces happen. Jobs. Kids. Moves and miles. Before you know it, seeing each other becomes a special occasion.

Kalie and Christy, if you’re listening, enjoy your free Saturdays together. They won’t last forever. But your BFFs? They get sweeter with time.

Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. Proverbs 17:17 The Message 

A little something for all the friends in the house. Go ahead, let your hair down…

16 thoughts on “Homegirls and BFFs”

  1. This might be my favorite post… but then I say that about every post. I need my Whetstine fix. The spare bedroom is very lonely right now and needs a BFF! Just let me know when to have dinner ready.

  2. Great post “Home Girl” ! Now come back home before my rocking chair years & lets make more fun memories!!!! <3

  3. Thanks Aimee! You know, I think you should have many good friends and not just one BFF. That’s too much pressure on each other. Spread the love.

    1. Amen, Wendy. I agree. Personally, my standards for BFFdom are not so astronomically high that friends can’t meet them; they’re not low, just not so high and pressurized, as you say. If you’re my friend, if we have some kind of history long or short, if we have chemistry, if you don’t lie to me or betray me, if we can laugh and share and support each other, then you too are BFF material! :) I guess I hope others will hold me to a standard of grace as well.

    2. Another addendum: I don’t just hope I will be held to a standard of grace. I have already been held to a standard of grace, by God and many people in my life!

  4. I recently was talking with a couple a few years older than me. They are sans BFF’s in their life. I was shocked. They are such fun and likable people. And my parents are the same way; they don’t have friends they hang out with. To me, this is a travesty. I can’t imagine going through life without close friends. If something good or bad happened to me, I NEED someone else to talk to and be with me through it. I’m glad you’re surrounded by BFF’s and I’m so grateful for people in my life. I just can’t imagine a life without somebody!

    1. That is sad, Tiffany. And so understandable. I look back and remember friendships I treasure but can’t participate in day to day because of distance or busyness or work or whatever… Some are far away, but some live in my own city! Cheesy as it may sound, I’m so thankful for things like FB, travel and even Christmas cards that make it easier to keep in touch. The opportunities to actually spend time together may be few and far between, but I can run quite a while on FB fumes! It takes work to stay involved with people, even those we love dearly. Jeff tells me most things that are worth it do.

    2. Tiffany, an addendum. Feel I should mention I realize people have different definitions of BFFs. I can see where someone might think having a lot of BFFs lessens the importance of each. I don’t think that, but it’s fine if someone wants to have just one or two… The people I consider my BFFs of are all different types of friends. I like it that way, feel I’m richer for it. Plus with us having moved around a bit, it’s hard to maintain just one circle of friends. That said, I extend no guilt to those who see it a different way.

  5. Dude. I will totally be your J Crew BFF. Call me anytime, I love SWF (Shopping With Friends)!!! ;)

      2. Shopping is definitely a competitive sport… the female equivalent to hunting. But it’s a group competition, us vs. the clothes! ;)

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