Friends are Family that We Chose

 The family we are born to is the family that trains us and prepares us for the time when we are going out into the *wilderness* that is life. Our friends on the other hand become our second family. I always say my friends are my sisters from another mother. And these ladies right here are 5 of those sisters I have. These are the people that stayed with me through my awkward teenage years, kept me updated on everything that's happening during our college years when I was too busy working at the fastfood, they celebrated my 18th birthday with me bringing alcohol and food *(yeah, it was a pretty small celebration, not the one with those dance and whatnot)*, they stayed with me while I was being stupid over a guy, and accepted me through all my faults and celebrated with me on my wins, big and small. When we finished college, we kept in touch, keeping the friendship alive. There was a time when we lost communication with each other - social media wasn't a big thing until recently - because we became busy with our careers. Each one of us had to fight with the big sharks in the vast ocean so we can establish ourselves. But every time one of us gets a win or suffers a loss, we make sure that we celebrate or cheer each other up together. We get angry with whoever breaks our hearts and we cherish the ones that care for us. And I think that's just how friends should be. We are each other's persons. We laugh with each other, and cry with each other. We've just been through so much and I am so grateful I got the chance to meet them. There was a point when we would just call each other up and ask *"Hey, you available for some drinks tonight?"* and voila! We've got a videoke session. But now, as we age, we are at the stage of our life where we need 2-3 months' notice before we could be able to meet up with all of us together. That's why, whenever we get the chance to meet, we make sure to make the most out of it. We got this epic group pose we did when we went to Bohol last 2012. We did it again when we had a get together in 2020. That was when we realized that we rarely get to meet each other - I mean all 5 of us together. We still see each other every now and then but we are rarely complete. So last January, when we went on our mini field trip with all of our kids, we did the very same pose again. It was so funny how the little ones reacted seeing their mommas being so silly in front of them. Normally, our kids see us as the parent, the one who teaches them, always thinking of what needs to be done next round the house. Motherhood has changed the moms in our group. It's understandable. As mothers, we had to make sure that we are a good example for our children. But somehow, we were able to bring out the silly once more. Nothing like sisters from another mother to bring out ourselves every once in a while.