A love letter to sisterhood

We celebrate a dear friend’s birthday; my sisters, our dear friend the birthday girl, and I, on Zoom. It is only for 40 mins but by the time everyone joins and we overcome technical difficulties, it is perhaps 20… But 20 minutes is enough to see each others’ faces, hear each others’ voices and even sing an off tune happy birthday, and express our gratitude to have her in our lives. As much as I wish we could all be together around a fire pit under the stars, sharing the same time and place, this cyber get-together, with all of us scattered around the world to different spaces and time zones, sparks joy nonetheless. Just as it has with other global girlfriend meetings I had since the pandemic started.

After the Zoom, I’m inspired to write a blog post for the first time in a long while. You see, these women mean so much to me, and not because they are my sisters, including our dear friend, but because I get to closely witness their battles, their courage, their disapproving demons, their infinite beauty and generosity, their fears, failures, yearnings, and many victories. These women who run with the wolves unbeknownst to them… They inspire me, they encourage me, they believe in me. And they are a part of me; sometimes criticizing, sometimes misunderstanding, but always there, making me feel seen, supported, and loved.

Then I think about about all the other dear girlfriends; the complexity, the courage, the will each of them possess, each on their own journey…

These incredible women show up in my life, like this (pictured) blooming beautiful orchid by my kitchen window that shows up with these incredible flowers unfailingly every morning, and I can’t fathom how I deserve to witness such beauty blossoming right in front of my eyes every single day, or how I could deserve the luxury of time, that affords me the freedom to see beauty with an open heart…