by Helene Shalotsky

The author right with one of her friends.

The other day I was having lunch with old friends. We have worked together,  laughed together, shared tears together, and applauded each other – together.

We share a history.

We share our family’s history and more specifically our children’s history. As in all histories, it is at times composed of joy and at times composed of pensive thoughts.

More ladies who lunch friends.

Our ladies who lunch have prayed for each other, cheered for each other, and always appreciated the special bond we had for each other.

I think of these ladies as very special, for they are well-wishers. And what a beautiful trait that is.

Well-wishers are the people who always wish you and yours all that is good as you in return give loving, respectful thoughts to them.

The years have woven my friends of many years into a very special fabric, gleaming with affection and understanding: This is a friendship material that always stretches in the direction of understanding, unity, and respect.

And why is it we look forward to having those Ladies Who Lunch moments?

Well, I believe there is something in female communication that is honest and supportive and lets us know that we are not alone in our feelings and experiences.

When you laugh, confide, listen, and have that personal connection with genuinely loved peers, you know you are NOT isolated.

The ladies’ lunch reveals there are others very like you, and even in our differences, there is support and love for one another.

Yes, with my friends of many years, there is an enormous bond.

Be it work experiences, parental hopes, or traversing those tender and sensitive feelings, the ladies who lunch help each other navigate through life, and in so doing, gain those much needed “Ah-ha” moments.

At these all so human get togethers, you don’t have to always be the perfected person you hope to be; you simply can be.

These wonderful people will automatically bring out what is best in you and set the stage for newer friends you will meet along the way; they are, indeed, the role models for future relationships.

It is at these luncheon moments, that we evolve into our happier selves.

There is something about shared friendship that allows you to blossom and allows for self-learning.

This truly illuminating growth, can often begin around that intimate table of ladies lunching.

So, here’s to the Ladies Who Lunch. May they always have a lot to share and much to give each other, as they oh-so-easily will give to the world that will be touched by them.

Helene Shalotsky is the author of “The Sunny Side” and also writes a monthly blog, “I Write it As I See It.” She is a retired school teacher, who enjoys life with her husband of many decades, her friends, her three daughters, sons-in-law and her eight grandchildren.