Tonight is girl’s night. It doesn’t look exactly the same as it did when we were younger. We aren’t going to a club for drinks. We are going to eat Chinese and talk about everything we still need to get done before school starts for the kids next week.

We are the Goof Troop; so named for the animated Disney show we used to watch before catching the bus to school. There are six of us, three sets of sisters, and we’ve been best friends since elementary school. I know how rare that is and I don’t take it for granted!

We haven’t all always stayed right here in the Ozarks. There have been times we’ve been as far flung as Wisconsin and California. There were years we only saw each other on holidays or when someone was having a baby. But in the last six years or so we all landed right back in our hometown. Now we aim to get together once a month and catch up on our busy lives…which usually means talking about all the events and activities we are driving our kids to!

We humans go through so many different versions of ourselves in different seasons of life. Having a core group of friends who’ve known you through all of the ups and downs is one of the most precious things you could be a part of. We are the real life Baby Sitters Club.

When was the last time you called up an old friend or went for dinner with your main gang? This is your sign to do it before summer passes us by and we get swept up in another crazy end of the year. As the saying goes:

Make new friends

but keep the old

one is silver

and the other gold.