A special thank-you message to my friends.

Just after Jack was born, I signed up for a parenting support class for new moms through my local health region. It consisted of four classes over four weeks where we received basic information about caring for our children. The class was led by a nurse who answered any questions we had. The class had some value, but something far more valuable came out of that class: a handful of great friends who support each other through the parenting process. That class was over three years ago, yet this group still finds time to meet almost every week.

Today, I want to recognize these friends of mine, as well as my other dear friends, and say "Thank-you," for all that you do. I can't tell you what your support has meant to me.

Every mom knows that parenting is sometimes like walking a tightrope high above the ground. You get the sense that if you slip just a little, it will be very hard or even impossible to recover. Of course that's not true, but it's hard not to feel very alone in our struggles from time to time.

My friends, many of them moms in the same time and place as I am, are like that big net below the tightrope. Actually, it's as if these ladies each hold the edge of a trampoline and if I fall, they bounce me right back up onto the tightrope.

We're all still going it alone a lot of the time, but the support of my friends is something I carry with me. I know, in the back of my mind, that whatever I am experiencing (see yesterday's post for example), at least one of them has had a similar experience, and we'll talk and laugh about it the next time we're together. Here's to moms and to good friends! Thanks for the laughter, and for helping to maintain my sanity.

To all my friends

Both near and far

Thanks for being who you are

You each lift me up

In your own special way

I'm so grateful for you

Today and every day