Hanging With the Losers

If you are anywhere near my age, you might remember Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah! The song goes on to talk about having a swingin' time. Last Saturday evening, we had one of those get togethers. I'm not sure it was swingin' but it sure was filled with laughter and good will.

A close examination of the above picture might just possibly reveal that there is a great disparity in ages of those posing. To me, that is one of the best parts of the friendship of this group of people. It transcends age, geography and occupations. It is a gift we all treasure and thank God for.

Pictured from left to right is me, Linda, Sandi, Heather and Sara. Sara is Linda's youngest daughter and Heather is the best friend of my youngest daughter, Gretchen. The real joy of this relationship is that it isn't limited to those pictured here. It also includes Linda's older daughter, Jodie, Sandi's daughter-in-laws Lara and Katie and my daughters Gretchen and Paige. I suppose to be fair, we should include Sandi's sons, Jeff and Peter and her granddaughter, Sienna. But, read on, there are others.

As you might have guessed, the perpetrators of this crew are Linda, Sandi and I. We became friends at church many years ago and began a ritual of having coffee at a local restaurant one morning a week. Over time, we were joined by Pat and Caryn. Our children began going off to college and would join us when they were home on vacation. That included Heather who I consider my third daughter, though I have to fight Sandi and Linda for her affections, and now Sandi's daughters-in-law and Sienna* .

Anyway, one day in a very long drawn out explanation of some women who Heather thought were trying to be cool, but were not. She said that unlike us, they were Loser Housewives. We loved the name and claimed it as our own. Thus was born The Loser Housewives.

Over time, our membership has changed some, but our commitment to each other remains strong. In the fellowship of that group of women, I know I am safe to be who and what I am. We have shared many joys together; engagements, weddings, births. We have laughed together till the tears flow. And we have cried many tears together over the burdens and losses of our lives. We have spoken honestly and lovingly to each other in the many circumstances in which we find ourselves. I always know that these women will tell me the truth, even when I'd rather not hear it. Through these many years, we have learned to love and trust each other more and more.

The list of things I have to be grateful for grows longer each day, but always at the top of that list are the Losers without whom my life would be the poorer.

*On a light note, although Lara is now officially a Loser, Sienna is only a Loser in Training.