These women..

I just returned from the most awesome, sanity restoring weekend I've had in a while.
I went to see my best friend in the galaxy in Miami, and I have never meant it more when I say, "It was exactly what I needed."
Ms. Amanda Meadows, Esq., and I have been friends for an amazing 12 years, and I simply shudder to think at what I would do without her presence in my life. We've only had about 3 arguments that I can think of and none of them ever lasted for longer than it took for us to make each other laugh.
The truly wonderful thing about a friendship like ours is that we have both essentially "grown up" together, or as close to it as we're going to get anytime soon, and I've gotten to watch her do fearless and wonderful things and continue to become a genuinely awe-inspiring person the more I know her.
In addition to being able to have much needed girl time with her, I got to reconnect with a group of friends that she's made throughout her time in law school and their friends' friends (ya got that?), and I have to say that there is no better way to spend 3 days than in the company of smart, funny, amazing women that are a positive force in each others' lives.
Too often, and I'll be the first to put forth this opinion, women don't serve to support each other; they tend to be catty and suspicious and insecure, which is a huge reason that I've always had mostly guy friends.
But, maybe, as we get older and realize that men are rarely a beacon of anything that resembles anything close to helping us stay sane, we understand the need for that support system of giggly, advice-giving girl fun and how there is no equal for that.
Don't get me wrong, I love men, too much I think, sometimes, and I don't want to denigrate what they provide either, but it makes me truly sad when I see women who only do things with their boyfriend/husband/male friend with benefits..what have you, because they will never know the comforting embrace of estrogen-filled Saturdays spent watching bad movies and making fun of commercials after a night of carousing.
These are the people that will bring you a Bloody Mary when you have a hangover (it works, really), will tell you, no matter what the circumstances or what you may have done in a relationship, "It is NEVER your fault," will call you on a particularly low Tuesday just to cheer you up, will sing you a birthday song on your voicemail within minutes of the day actually turning over to your birthday and will pick you up from the airport blasting Justin Timberlake while shouting, "OWWW! Shake it!" much to the delight of the harried pilots waiting for their shuttle buses to their crappy hotels.
Frailty, thy name is woman, my ass.