An interesting email

Today I received an email message from one of my closest friends, Laurie. You know the kind of friend: the one with whom, although you might not have seen her for months, you feel so comfortable that when you get together it's as if no time has passed. Laurie was my roommate in college, in the slum apartment where after one huge rainstorm, water ran through the light fixtures, and later, in an apartment in the "big city" with another friend. Many years have passed since then, but I still treasure her friendship.
I digress. . .
The email. . . here's the backstory. For many years, seven college friends have gathered each Christmas season in a Girlfriends' party. We move from house to house, trading hostess duties. Sometimes, though not often, we meet in a restaurant. We give gifts. In the early years, we drew names. One year, we brought a gift that might be suitable for any one of us and "drew straws" to see what we'd take home that year. The past few years, though, we've done things a little bit differently. We've given a small gift to each one of the Girlfriends. We don't spend much money; the limit is $5 per person. But we spend that money on one of our favorite luxuries that we'd like to share with our friends. Last year, I knitted a scarf for each of my Girlfriends. Through the years, I remember receiving homemade hot cocoa mix in a gigantic snowflake mug from Sally, a pair of her favorite brand of tweezers from Liz (yes, I still use them), her favorite cocoa almonds from Laurie, a handmade Christmas card holder from Jodi (she's an amazing quilter--actually, she's amazing at everything) and a customized calendar from Heather. Looking through the pages of the calendar was like looking at a time capsule of the past years of Girlfriends' gatherings. The scrapbook that we began a few years ago also chronicles the changing hairstyles and the gatherings through the years. The gifts and the scrapbook are wonderful--and worthwhile.
Some years, though, we do more. A few years ago, my friend Lisa, an Air Force nurse, was stationed in Iraq. When I asked her what I could send to her to make her time there better, she told me she didn't want anything for herself, but could use sweatshirts and pants for her "guys" who came in to the hospital with injuries that destroyed what they were wearing. That year, we gathered new shirts and pants and mailed them to Lisa, along with notes from each of the Girlfriends. Other years, the group has adopted a family and done various other (in Laurie's words) benevolent projects. It doesn't happen every year, but it happens when any one of us knows of someone in need and brings it to the group.
Although I shared college experiences with these amazing women, I didn't join the group at its beginning. I've sort of orbited around the core group as distance and circumstance changed. The past few years, though, it's become an important part of my holiday season. A couple of years ago, 18 inches of snow grounded Julie and me (we live in the same area) and we missed the party. Several days later--after the roads were cleared and the postal service was delivering mail again--I received a box in the mail. It was filled with all the Girlfriends' gifts. It was like a second Christmas morning for me.
The gatherings are some of my life's milestones. The group is a constant along the journey. We've gone through many things with each other: first jobs, marriages, births, promotions, job losses, the time when one of the group had to take the car keys from her aging and no-longer-able-to-drive parents, two fathers' deaths and a miscarriage.
So there's the backstory.
Back to that email from Laurie: she had posted about the group and our gatherings on a women's site. Earlier this month, she had received a note from a freelance writer working on a story for Better Homes and Gardens December issue. She's since talked to the writer about the gatherings and shared some of our pictures with her. Another of the group will also share her thoughts with the reporter. This year's Christmas gift for the group could be being featured in a national magazine. That would be spectacular, but the most important gift will still be the time we'll share together, come a Saturday morning early in the Christmas season.