The night I learned vagina is not a dirty word

I had a friend who was a networker. Sylvia was one of those people who made efforts to draw people together. She was amazing. She died of cancer on September 14, 2004 and I wrote about her in my blog on that day. She was about 17 years older than me, but we had a bond. In fact, she has a daughter who is my age, but it was always the mom that I hung out with - in fact we worked together. There was a group of us that used to spend time together, mostly because we were all working for the same non-profit organization and didn't have the sense to know when to go home. We became family to each other. One of the women became my housemate. I was her maid of honour when she married. Another one was the emcee at my first just-for-a-minute-by-mistake event, and Sylvia gave a toast that I still remember.

After her death, that group came together to organize a benefit in her name. Her greatest wish was that her grandson, who lives with autism, would have a companion dog. That goal was achieved and the dog is now fully integrated into their home.

We swore that we wouldn't let so much time pass without seeing each other again. That was April 2005.

In the midst of all the craziness that's been happening in my life - school, kids, work, HB's struggles - I realized what I was missing.

Women!

I was missing my women friends. The ones that I can just hang out with, laugh with, be serious with, cry with, eat with, just be with .... I missed my women friends.

So I emailed the little group. We got together tonight for dinner (amazing greek food), tons of conversation and then went to the an event that I believe every woman should attend at least once in her life. The Vagina Monologues.

If you have one, go be part of an event in your area.

I laughed, cried, sat in awed shock, amazement, cried a bit more and then laughed again.

I'd love to be on the stage next year. We'll see.

Once again, Sylvia reached out and networked among us. Brought us together in a way that only true women friends can be brought together.

Go see it. You won't regret it.