Not long ago, we celebrated my son’s 35th birthday at a steakhouse on a Saturday night. My husband and I arrived after his family, so I was met near the front door by 8-year old Breezy.  She’d been sent to retrieve us.  “Where’s Papa?” she asked.  “He’s parking the car,” I said.

Just after getting us settled down at the table, pointing out our assigned seats, she immediately said, “Gigi, did you know that Sav is spending the night?”  Savannah is one of her very best friends.  “No, I didn’t know, but that is great.  What are y’all going to do?”  “Well,” she responded slowly, thinking as she spoke, “we’ll probably eat some candy…play Fortnite, …and maybe do some hairstyles.”

“What?,” I thought.  Had my sweet granddaughter, at the tender age of 8, just described, in one short sentence, the PERFECT sleepover?   I think so.

I don’t know what guys do with their friends as they are growing up, but I do know what girls do.  I remember my older brother having friends over to spend the night, but I didn’t pay them much attention to them.   But, what girls do at their sleepovers apparently hasn’t changed over the years.  No matter their age.

There’s always food, there’s always fun and games, and there’s always some kind of grooming: hairstyles, fingernails, pedicures, make-up, trying on shoes and clothes, etc.

I remember one sleepover during high school that took place on a Friday night before a Saturday football game. There must have been 30 girls in attendance. We slept everywhere. Wall-to-wall sleeping bags and pallets covered the floor.

Another high school friend had several sleepovers in her basement. It was the perfect environment for dancing, laughing, and eating.

Last summer, more than 40 years post high school, I reunited with the hosts of these sleepovers. One of them welcomed us at her lake home. Five friends got together.

Even at 60, there was food, fun and games, and we did some hairstyles. Well, we did our own hair, but we talked about hair-dos. And we tried on boots. Hey, it’s Texas!

I’m glad Breezy’s going to and hosting fun sleepovers. Some of the girlfriends she spends time with now will see her through the brightest and darkest days of her life.

I pray that, for her, there will be more good times for sharing than bad.

I thank God every day for the remembrances of the many girlfriends He’s gifted me throughout the journeys of my life.

Because of you, the world makes sense to me in a way it didn’t before. (Sylvia Day)

dmzh