The Women In My Life

I am one of the luckiest people that I know. I grew up in a neighborhood where everyone knew one another. The women became close friends and all of their children even closer. It is something that I look back on now as a rarity, even for then. It was suburbia at it's best and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
While there were 6 mother hens on the 4 streets we all lived on, there were at least 14 children that belonged to them and that isn't included the adopted children from streets a bit further away. These 6 women have remained friends for as long as I have been alive and, to this day, still get together to celebrate birthdays, holidays, weddings and life in general. They have loved all of us kids as if we were their own and they have never failed to support us through the mistakes in life, as well as the successes.
This weekend I was privileged enough to feel that strong support and love from them as they celebrated the adoption of our girls from Ethiopia. These women, along with many others of equal importance wrapped their arms around me and gave words of encouragement and blessing that I desperately needed to hear.
I must admit, it is a bit overwhelming all of this transition. The fears that I have about how well I will be able to parent are a bit frightening. I know that the transitions ahead are big ones. I realize that many people think that we are crazy (I have those moments myself), but I also know that timing of everything has never been in my hands. It lies in the grasp of hands far more capable than my own. We have trusted all along that what we need will be provided as we need it and every step of the way, those needs have been provided for. That is what this weekend reminded me of.
To sit in a room with all of these women, with their wisdom, humor and experience was very humbling. I have watched them battle together through joy, pain, love, loss, life and death, being one anothers lifeline through it all. There is a strength that they share, a bond in the knowledge of what it means to be a woman, a tie that connects them all to something bigger. Combined, they are the woman and mother that I hope to be and I have been blessed beyond reason to know them.
I know it sounds cheesy and a bit canned, but honestly, I tell you the truth, they are wonderful people and they gave, as they always do, far beyond any expectation.
Thank you to you all.