The Leaders of the Free World Unite

In just a few short weeks, I will be spending two days with a group of girls, most of which, I have known since kindergarten. Within our group we have a college professor, a dentist, a lawyer, two teachers, a deputy sheriff, a retired Air Force officer, a Physicians Assistant, an office manager, a barrel racer and a state champion baton twirler.

We are all mothers with 13 kids to watch over, most of which are mine. One of us has endured the loss of a child. We have all been married, some divorced, some divorced more than once - well, okay so only I have been divorced more than once but whose counting really. Damn, I counted.  There are thirteen current and ex husbands in our lives and again, most of those are mine.

We didn't think we would see each other this year though we do stay in touch on a near daily basis. Some of us have buried our mothers, fathers and brothers (spoiler alert: yes, most are mine) and one of us is presently watching over her mama as death has been lurking about, taking its time and taking its toll, as it always does.

Two of these women have recently broken free from long term marriages to 1) a crack head and 2) a crack pot. They are both doing well and we are awestruck as we watch their old spirit come back to us - the girls we remember from high school. All of their love and beauty popping back out like the first tulip of spring. We didn't stop loving them when they were in the midst of all that chaos and ugliness. We loved them right through it but we also told them exactly how we felt about it. See, when you have as much history as we do, we can say things like, "what the fuck are you still doing there?"

We are fiercely protective of each other, willing to cut a bitch who might dare to hurt one of us. And most importantly, we are all going through this thing called menopause - time and distance may vary - but we all feel it. We all understand what is happening to our bodies as we age. We joke about going through "the change". Exactly what are we changing into?

So the stars lined up for us, doors were opened that had previously been slammed shut and all eight of us will be there to laugh and cry, to expose our outer beauty and our inner demons. If you feel the earth shift a bit in mid-July, don't worry, it's just Tina giving everyone a good hard mushing.

I need these women like a horny dog needs a leg to hump. I want to grab on and never let go (figuratively of course). Don't worry girls, I'm not planning to hump your legs, that is, unless you ask.