Sometimes I get so caught up in being a mother that I forget to be a DAUGHTER. Last night I think I made up for at least a little bit of lost time by taking my mom out for just about the best “girls’ night out” the two of us could have had.
Since I’ve been on stage quite a few times at Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre, I’ve become close friends with some of the staff and actors, including the talented and amazing Jill Kelly. She is one of the five women who make up the cast of “Dixie Swim Club.” Jill told me how much fun she was having in the role. “It’s kind of like ‘Steel Magnolias,'” she told me. “Women, friendships, laughing and crying – you’ll love it!”
Well, she was right, and then some. I had no idea the show would be so funny, so entertaining, and so JUST what my mom and I needed. It’s the story of five friends who meet once a year at a beach house – no husbands, no kids, no work, just friends. The audience just sees snapshots of their lives at different points over the years. Absolutely everything changes for the ladies – except their friendship. Jill was radiant and hilarious as the self-absorbed vixen of the group, whose need to talk endlessly about her cosmetic surgeries and divorces leaves her friends reaching for their martini glasses.
The evening left my mom and I feeling very lucky to each have amazing girlfriends in our lives. It also made me remember that as immersed as we can become in our roles as wives, mothers and employees, we also need to celebrate ourselves as individual women.
So – in honor of the “Dixie Swim Club” gals, I am about to get on Facebook and track down my group of college girlfriends: a teacher, a diplomat, a city planner-turned-stay-at-home-mom, a physical therapist, an accountant, a lawyer, and me, the writer.
We have a girlfriends’ getaway to plan.