The Wind Beneath My Wings

/ roughwighting

friends, celebration, e-publishing, writing Whenever I hear the expression “you are the wind beneath my wings,” I think about how my friends have blown me through misgivings, doubts, mistakes, dilemmas, marvels, damnations, mysteries, and discomforts.

The times I laugh the loudest, and cry the hardest, are with my friends.

The wind beneath my wings.

One night this week, a group of six friends took me out to celebrate the publication of my book, The Right Wrong Man. They passed around cards of encouragement and pride, they plied me with chocolate bars to fortify me in my (writing) times of need. They gave me a bag full of ‘writing essentials’ in case the power went out: notebook, candle, pencils, pens, and an eraser that says ‘delete.’

writing, writing with no power, friendships, publishing

God, I love my friends.

college friends, friendsI cherish the faded photos of my first steady friends – friendships cemented during our college years of love found, love lost, tests failed, classes college, dorm, friendshipspassed, maturity endured, parties survived.

And I cherish the photo of us, decades later, still smiling together.

Women are only as strong as their friendships, yes?

friends, college, dorm, aging

Decades after college, still smiling.

champagne, congratulations, friendships, writing, publishingA week ago, another friend, “Inda the Bride,” took me out for lunch to celebrate my book, and before I knew what she was doing, two glasses of champagne sparkled on our table. Her friendship goes way back, including an evening 20 years ago when my daughter made glittery nameplates for our dinner table, but the glimmering “L” came off long before dessert. Linda’s been Inda ever since. Oh, and she and her love married in our house; I even pressed the CD button as she came down our stairs, so Pachelbel Canon in D Major would soothe her jittery nerves.

The wind beneath our wings.

Just as I’m writing this, I see an e-mail pop up from a ‘new’ friend. We’ve only known each other for 12 years. A Baby Friendship. She writes:

friendship, writing, e-book, publishing

MADS helped me survive New England winters, teaching me how to drive in the snow (close your eyes and pray), how to tutor special ed students (stare them in the eyes and love them), and how to laugh when you want to cry.

The wind beneath my wings.

When I began this blog almost two years ago, the second post I wrote was about a long-time friendship – “A Place I Could Easily Call Home” (http://bit.ly/placecallhome), and the first poem I posted explained that “Friendship sooths the rough edge of life.” (http://bit.ly/friendshipoem).

As I scroll down the friendships of my life, the special women who have helped me get through my fears and my devils, helped me celebrate my joys and my loves, I thank them for the wind they’ve provided beneath my wings.

cheers, writing, congratulations, publishing, friendshp Cheers and love to you, my friends!

43 thoughts on “The Wind Beneath My Wings”

  2. What a beautiful, heart warming post:-) True friendship is indeed one of the great gems life has to offer, and it sounds like you’ve been blessed with a lot of it…and I’m sure you’ve blessed others with the gift of yours too. Lift your glasses…to friendship! Oh, and to your book! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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  3. Pam, so proud to be one of your circle of friends, and to help you celebrate your wonderful book. I’m looking forward to reading all of the many books to come. Your heartfelt sentiment comes through in your writing, which I very much appreciate.

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  6. Wow, this is powerful. I love what your friends did for you (the power-is-out package). That is awesome. I have a few friends who have encouraged me through divorces (multiple), and bad times and flood and moving again and again. I have friends from high school who I have recently reconnected with. I have new friends – near and far and wide, via the internet – that have helped shaped my writing and editing careers. I God Bless them, every one.

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  7. Amen to everything you said! Where would we be without our women friends? If we’re very lucky, we’ll never have to find out! And I have to say that one of the very best things I’ve discovered through dipping my toes into the social media pond is that I can make new online blog and Twitter friends to whom I feel connected without ever having met them. E.g., you!

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  9. Yes, friends, old and new, are what sustain us through the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve been feeling kind of bad/sad lately knowing that through all the time I’ve taken writing, publishing, and marketing my book many of my old friends (supporters all) have taken a backseat to my work. I (all of us) only have so much time each day, but I’m really looking at where the time is spent and realizing spending real time, person-to-person (and that’s not social media) is where my soul belongs, where it takes flight. That’s the wind beneath my feet that warms me most, so a change in my course has approached lift-off.

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    • Well, if that means we get to have our ‘just you and me writer-buds dinner’ more often, I’m all for your new course! Seriously, I know what you mean – sometimes our passions (in our case, writing) take us away from what we love the most, and that’s when the soul says, ‘hey, wait a minute!’ Finding the balance is hard. Friendships help. A lot.

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  11. Pam…what a wonderful tribute to the women we love in our life…what would we do without them–they do give us strength, laughter and anchor us in the
    rough waves we encounter along the way…thx for your writing and the gift
    of your friendship…your friend, pat

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  15. How wonderful to have such long lasting girlfriends, and the writer’s survival kit is genius. Must work on my female to male friend ratio; the males I know just don’t think of things like that. Have an awesome day!

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  16. What a great group of friends you have! My favorite kind of friend (if you HAD to pick a favorite kind) is the kind that you can go years and years w/o talking, and then when you finally do, it’s like all those lost years never existed. I have a friend like that that I’ve known since we were both 3, and it’s been an awesome 44 years with her.

    And when we do talk over the phone (we live in different states) there’s plenty of squealing and laughing sprinkled throughout the conversation. : )

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    • Squealing and laughing – a sign of true friendship. When my group of friends and I get together, we do get looks at how much ‘noise’ we’re making (ie, loud laughter). Now we request the back room. :+)
      You’re so lucky to have a friend from childhood times – that closeness cannot be replicated anywhere.

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  17. Aw what a wonderful time to share with good friends. Celebrating a book being published with a the people who saw you through all the doubt and cheered you on–sounds like the best celebration ever. 🙂

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  18. Many MANY congratulations for the publication of your book!!! WaHOOO! So very happy for you. May you sell a million copies. This year. As for friendships, yes, you have shared deeply the joys of friends that sustain over time. So glad that you showed the picture of you alone at the end so we could figure out what you look like. Keep inspiring us, Pam.

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    • Oh, and you and your blog inspire me! Isn’t that neat, because we live in such different areas of the country, and yet our writing proves how close we are in the heart. Cheers to you!

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