My friends are my estate.–Emily Dickinson
A friend is a present you give to yourself.– Robert Louis Stevenson
What would we do without our friends–particularly our women friends? They are there to give us support, cheer us on, have a little “girl” fun, and sometimes just to set us straight.
It turns out that there are some health benefits to friendship. Several studies connect female friendship with lower blood pressure, lowered risk of diabetes, heart disease, and depression. Additionally, women use each other for a sounding board to talk about problems at work and in their personal lives. Spending time with girl friends in a variety of situations, and particularly in this exchange of information and feelings make up a support system for us.
Let us give thanks today for our wonderful friends who stand by us through thick or thin. We are blessed to have them.
I leave you with a poem from my book, Water Running Downhill!
ONE TRIBE
Have you felt
With passing years
A more pressing
Need to connect
With other women
To share observations
And laughter
To offer advice
Or garner wisdom?
Do you feel drawn
As if by a magnetic force
To be with your own kind?
For these women
Are a tribe, your tribe.
No one else will ever
Understand your struggle
As they will.
Women are our people.
When we come together
We feel a oneness
A sisterhood united.
When we come together
We are at home.
Links:
http://www.womenshealth.suite101.com/article.cfm/women_and_friendship#ixzz0WwNYlhWP
http://www.lindawis.com/articles/01.php
http://www.lindawis.com/articles/01.php
Joan Ellen Gage 
So true, friends are the present you give yourself. I love your new site.Sam
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Joan Ellen,Great poem. Yes, I am grateful for my friends. Both male and females are a great source of comfort for me. I do especially find a lot to talk about with my sister and mother. When we get together this Thanksgiving, you may even hear us chatting clear to Fla.! Have a great Thanksgiving.
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