Recently I read an article on the web entitled “Five Friends Every Woman Should Have.” It wasn’t well-written and it wasn’t particularly insightful–as a matter of fact, it was on one of those sites dedicated to “women’s lifestyle” that tend to be nauseatingly Oprahesque–but it did provide a very interesting list to consider. Here is the list of the “five friends” every woman should have:
1. The Uplifter
2. The Travel Buddy
3. The Truth Teller
4. The Girl Who Just Wants to Have Fun
5. The Unlikely Friend
Of couse, that got me thinking: do I have all of these? (Because, you know, if I don’t, that must mean that I need some serious “lifestyle” readjustments!) My immediate thought was that I did have all of these women in my life…. but, interestingly, a couple of my friends served several of these functions. Then, a couple of weeks later, when I was having a rough time, a good friend of mine sent me one of those emails that we all need from time to time that basically says “Hey, I’m thinking of you. You’re not crazy. I love you and I’m here for you.” (Ahhhhhhh… thank god for such moments!) And I realized that I have at least one seriously multi-tasking friend, Adriel, who seems to fit all five categories and then some.
(Love you, girl!)
So, I would like to pose the following question: what do you think was left off of the list? (Boys, you can answer, too!) I’ll get things started by adding a 6th category of my own. I think every woman needs The Reminder in her life as well. You know, that person who can say, “Wait, haven’t we been through this before with you? Don’t you remember how this turned out last time?” or “Don’t forget that you can do this. You’ve done it before.” And, fyi, Adriel does that, too.
Awww…
I don’t know, I think all my friends just want to have fun. And travel. But my 6th category (inspired by the photo): the friend who would make a good siamese twin. It took me about a minute and a half to figure out which head goes with which body!
Unlike my husband, I take your questions VERY seriously. 😉
I think that everyone needs to have a good friend who is older. I know that it’s experience that matters, but in general, experience comes with age and it’s really nice to have that one older person who’s not a parent or a relative, who could really help you put whatever it is that you are going through (both good and bad) in perspective.
A very selfish perspective, I know…