The Girls from Ames

This is the book I thought I would write about my group of friends. But it's better because it was done from an outsider's perspective, a journalist trying to figure out why the group works and to report the facts as he sees them.

It was a bit confusing throughout because there are 11 girls, and it's hard to keep them straight. Some girls got more face time than others, maybe because their stories were more interesting. If there was a book about my friends, would it be confusing for people who don't know us? I'm not sure.

One similarity was striking: a member of their group, Sheila, died at age 22. Her service was held at St. Cecilia's. The Girls from Ames were not all present at her funeral (she died after falling of a building- details and the reason why have never been figured out), and they are not all required to go to each year's Girls Weekend. Our Donna died at age 22 and her service was also held at St. Cecilia's; we were all at her funeral, and we are all required (!) to attend Girls Weekend. The reason we have Girls Weekend is because Donna thought we should have one every year.

All in all, the book was great, it got me thinking about my friends and how important they are to me. Some of the author's observations really resonated with me; one being that the reason the girls stayed so close is because they knew each other at their most authentic, as kids, and they had seen each other grow up, so they couldn't ever pretend to be someone they aren't around each other. Also the way he observed them interact whenever they were around each other, they cried anytime, laughed hysterically, and were comfortable touching each other- a hand on the shoulder here or knees touching there. It was like they were one unit. Completely comfortable.

I guess it's kinda how I feel when I see one of my girls. Like I breathe a sigh of relief inside because I don't have to worry what they think or how they feel, I know they care about me even if I'm not my best self.