Decades of Girlfriend Kind
By Patti Broad
What happened when 6 childhood and high school friends decided to make an annual trip together? At a high school reunion, in Connecticut, we quickly regained the camaraderie so important to us a teenagers. We, then, made a plan that each of us would host a gathering of the “Posse”, as we named ourselves, and share our new “hometowns” and special places. We were off to making new memories together. Beyond the fun and travel and new places we are sharing, our group has become a sustaining support group. During the 4 or 5 days we spend at each other’s homes and vacation spots, we share much more. We are “re-bonding” by sharing the big and small moments of our 60’s decade just like we shared the ups and downs of our teenage years of the 1960’s! Can you say synergy here? Or “Sedona moments” spreading to reach all parts of the country.
The first gathering was for our 60th birthdays. We had 1 January, 2 February, 2 March, 1 May and 1 June birth dates among us. We came together for our first visit in California and went to a spa in the desert. At one dinner, as we all donned “60 silly fun glasses and beaded necklaces”, the server thought all our birthdays were on the same day! The spa was so relaxing. There were ongoing talks and hugs as we shared the dread and anticipation of this new decade for us.
Our most recent visit was to Austin and friends’ ranches in Mason, Texas in April. The wildflowers were in bloom and Austin was a new place for almost all of us. Barbecued Food! Art! Music! All there in Austin and then to the fun out at the ranches with walks, a sunset hike, hanging out at the one local wine bar, watching out for rattle snakes, scorpions and mosquitoes and more and more laughs and stories. We have become grandmothers, lost our own mothers and fathers, seen children wed and talked of their career paths. We share travel stories and memories of our childhoods, our up and down relationships we have or had with our mothers and interspersed we check in with each other about our health issues. Surprisingly, (hear sarcasm here) we are all going through the same kind of health issues at the same time… like waking up many times through the night, aches and pains from exercise or lack of exercise, things your mother never told you would happen as we get older—you get the drift, right?
I am grateful that I have this group of women friends that’ get me’ and I ‘get them’. We can pick up right where we left off each time we gather together. These 4 or 5 day trips from the East Coast to Louisiana to the West mean a lot to all of us and especially to me, to receive the love and kindness of these amazing women. We grew up and were together during the women’s movement, the Vietnam conflict, the Civil Rights movement, and the assassinations of JFK and RFK and MLK, JR. while we were in high school. Being together during those kinds of experiences truly bond us.
Alongside these Posse trips, my husband and I have become invested, literally and emotionally in Sedona. (We purchased a home in April 2017, yea!) And in the past few years, Sedona kindnesses embraced me through another group of women who are remarkable. They are the most genuine of people. I hike with them, share films and dinners together, have book discussions, go to meetings and hear amazing sharing of thoughts, fears and joys. And of course, joined SedonaKind. I find wonder and thankfulness in this gift of women who will be in my life in Sedona as my Posse has been in my life growing up. I am overwhelmed by the kindness of all these women. Now, I have my Posse friends and my Sedona friends. I plan to have the Posse come to Sedona and meet my wonderful Sedona women. And with the kindness of women “we do not have to go gently into that good night”.
The first gathering was for our 60th birthdays. We had 1 January, 2 February, 2 March, 1 May and 1 June birth dates among us. We came together for our first visit in California and went to a spa in the desert. At one dinner, as we all donned “60 silly fun glasses and beaded necklaces”, the server thought all our birthdays were on the same day! The spa was so relaxing. There were ongoing talks and hugs as we shared the dread and anticipation of this new decade for us.
Our most recent visit was to Austin and friends’ ranches in Mason, Texas in April. The wildflowers were in bloom and Austin was a new place for almost all of us. Barbecued Food! Art! Music! All there in Austin and then to the fun out at the ranches with walks, a sunset hike, hanging out at the one local wine bar, watching out for rattle snakes, scorpions and mosquitoes and more and more laughs and stories. We have become grandmothers, lost our own mothers and fathers, seen children wed and talked of their career paths. We share travel stories and memories of our childhoods, our up and down relationships we have or had with our mothers and interspersed we check in with each other about our health issues. Surprisingly, (hear sarcasm here) we are all going through the same kind of health issues at the same time… like waking up many times through the night, aches and pains from exercise or lack of exercise, things your mother never told you would happen as we get older—you get the drift, right?
I am grateful that I have this group of women friends that’ get me’ and I ‘get them’. We can pick up right where we left off each time we gather together. These 4 or 5 day trips from the East Coast to Louisiana to the West mean a lot to all of us and especially to me, to receive the love and kindness of these amazing women. We grew up and were together during the women’s movement, the Vietnam conflict, the Civil Rights movement, and the assassinations of JFK and RFK and MLK, JR. while we were in high school. Being together during those kinds of experiences truly bond us.
Alongside these Posse trips, my husband and I have become invested, literally and emotionally in Sedona. (We purchased a home in April 2017, yea!) And in the past few years, Sedona kindnesses embraced me through another group of women who are remarkable. They are the most genuine of people. I hike with them, share films and dinners together, have book discussions, go to meetings and hear amazing sharing of thoughts, fears and joys. And of course, joined SedonaKind. I find wonder and thankfulness in this gift of women who will be in my life in Sedona as my Posse has been in my life growing up. I am overwhelmed by the kindness of all these women. Now, I have my Posse friends and my Sedona friends. I plan to have the Posse come to Sedona and meet my wonderful Sedona women. And with the kindness of women “we do not have to go gently into that good night”.