i have quite a few friends. friends for a reason - such as my scrapbooking friends, and my blogging friends. friends for a season - those friends that you have for a while, and then outgrow them. and then i have these friends:
we have been friends for a very long time. i think more than 15 years. the group has changed a little. some members have moved away, like marlene and annemarie, who are still sorely missed. some have joined us later. a few years ago, we decided we were going to have a photoshoot. we planned every detail. we got dressed up. we assembled props, and we hired a photographer. and we have not regretted it, ever. the memories we have of this day, and of each other, are priceless!
as a group we have been through so much. there are 9 girls on this photo. but we have been through 3 divorces, and some close calls, 3 deaths of husbands, and a few serious illnesses, 2 re-marriages, and one who is living in sin. a few bankruptcies and some close-calls. our kids have been through problems at school, therapies, troubled teens, depression, weddings, rehab, moving overseas. some of the girls in these photos are grannies already, and some could have been a long time ago. soon, we will sit together in the sitting room of the old-age home, and laugh and share 'remember when's.
for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, we have been together. these are the girls i would phone in the middle of the night in a crisis. these are the girls who stood by me when ronnie died. these are the girls who would still love me, no matter what i looked like, and no matter what i did. these are the girls who forgive tactlessness and hurtful remarks. these are best friends forever.
to theunise, anne, charlotte, hettie, antoinette, annemarie, marlene and una i want to say thank you for being such wonderful friends! thank you for the fun, and the laughs, and for sharing the tears. thank you for caring and for being there. thank you for being you, and for the contribution you make to my life. thank you for letting me be a member of your wonderful little group. the day we took these photos is still one of the highlights of my life...
and to annemarie, it was so nice to see you again. it was like you were never gone.
jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa
