Ann

I saw the movie "Steel Magnolias" for about the 50th time last week, and it struck me that this board is chuck full of Steel Magnolias.

We have a variety of characters who come together in one place (their's was the hair salon) where we share with one another all the things that are going on in our lives.

We listen to each other, and offer advice...from different angles and with a variety of suggetions. We make each other laugh, and best of all we learn to laugh at ourselves.

We have welcomed the "new kids on the block" and taken them under our wings to make sure they didn't feel like the stranger in town.

We cheer each other on, and rejoice in even the smallest victory.

We share the joy of the birth of new babies, and line up with our presents and best wishes, and no doubt will be full of advice on how these babies are to be brought up.

We have shared death, mourned together and offered our support as best we could in tragic circumstances.

We have shared the journey to jails, psychiatric wards, shelters and rehabs...and survived the journey together.

We have whacked each other with the skillet, when any one of us was needing a reality check, and hugged each other till our stuffing fell out when hugs were exactly what we needed.

And most of all, we have grown together. Wiser, older, stronger and happier.

So to all the Steel Magnolias here, I just want to say thank you for being the best friends this lady could ever have.