Porch Girls: Women Supporting Women

“A circle of women may just be the most powerful force known to humanity. If you have one, embrace it. If you need one, seek it. If you find one, for the love of all that is good and holy, dive in. Hold on. Love it up. Get Naked. Let them see you. Let them hold you. Let your reluctant tears fall. Let yourself rise fierce and love gentle. You will be changed. The very fabric of your being will be altered by this, if you allow it. Please, please allow it.” ― Jeanette LeBlanc

We are the porch girls and have been a wonderful support group for many years. We started as friends meeting for lunch once in a while at a restaurant, but it turned out we all have husbands with medical issues. Bonnie and I worried about Martha who had to take her husband three times a week to dialysis and then wait around for hours. Bonnie suggested we start meeting on her porch on Thursdays for lunch so that Martha would have a respite. Bonnie has been cooking for us ever since. It is always a treat and we have become great friends, sharing secrets and struggles, laughing a lot, going without makeup and helping one another understand best ways to cope. We also share recipes, enjoy hearing about kids and grandkids, nieces and nephews and so much more.

There is nothing like a women's group to feel connected. It is sacred space.

---

In my novel, Naomi and Ruth: Loyalty Among Women, women often help other women, even when they don't know one another. In Jerusalem, hospitable ladies take care of Naomi whose feet are blistered from walking. In Moab the priest's wife and her friends give Naomi opportunities to earn a living after her husband dies. And back in Bethlehem, Naomi and Ruth are taken in by Naomi's best friend, Leah.