WHAT GIRLFRIENDS WOULD DO


She has a deadline for Monday. But you've been talking about this trip to San Fransisco for the longest time. So she packs her bag, complete with her work, hops in the car and heads to Sacramento where you are. That's in the middle of the night, a dark, rainy night. In the end, her work is un-done, un-started... heck, un-opened! She knows she will have to finish her work in the few hours left between Sunday night and Monday morning, but she leaves you smiling just the same, telling you how much fun she had.

She hires the rented car that will brave the sleet and rain for 6 hours to get to you, after a full-day's work, in the middle of the night, knowing too well that that is how things are going to be for the next couple of days... driving mile after mile to get you were you want to be. And when she gets home late Sunday evening, she will email you to apologize for not being able to call because her phone has died and she left her charger in the hotel.

They will not forget to bring you Chippy and Chocnut, Sweet Hawaiian Bread, ube'ng halaya and a shirt.

They will stay up with you, giggling and talking and eating and blogging until 6 am, after the 6-hour drive, after the full-day's work, after a dinner cut short.

She will tell you not to bother with her breakfast and seive through the left-overs in the fridge and help herself and burp with gusto! And she will hug you and kiss you for a couple of eggs done over-easy.

She will sing with you and for you, even if she has to do it with nothing on but a bath towel. She will map out the whole trip, book the hotel and not make you pay for a single cent. She will take you to the place where she left her heart, the place she loves most, so she can take your pictures there. She will navigate and sing some more and do what it takes so all 3 pairs of eyes in the car will be wide open through every minute of that trip.

She will brave the crookedness of Lombard street, the steepness of Nob Hill, the traffic in and out of downtown San Fransisco, and suffer getting lost with you, and find that it was good getting lost cause you all end up in nice, unplanned destinations, where you can shoot more pictures and share more memories. She will drink with you, and for you and say, 'Whoopsieee!...' and then laugh with you. She will drive through the freeway and all of a sudden go on a laughing spree, replete with tears streaming down her cheeks, breath running out on her and telling you why in stunted phrases that sounded like she was having a fit of hiccups.

And they will sing with you again, with the car windows rolled down, throwing all they've got into the songs, from 'sugar pie honey bunch,' to 'I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and happy and gay,' and woe to the poor passers-by who had to bear with it.

And they will tell you their stories, no holds barred, no page unturned, unselfishly going through their pains and triumphs, their loves, their life... each word endearing themselves more to you, each revelation stringing the bond more tightly, making you feel that this friendship has become so tangible, so real, so heartfelt.

And you know it's just been two days, yet it doesn't make goodbye any easier. You walk into the rooms they've been, and remember...

And you feel more alone, and you wish it didn't have to end so soon.

And then you remember again, all the things you've laughed about, all the things you did and said, all the hugs you've given each other...

And you can't help being glad to have girlfriends.