Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Once a year, I have the privilege of sharing an entire weekend with six girlfriends. Some of these are friends I see often and some I don't get to see as often as I like. The seven of us meet at a small cottage on a lake in Central Wisconsin. There's no air conditioning and very few amenities. Nevertheless, we make this weekend a priority in our busy lives. We've been doing this for 15 years and hope to do it till we can't do it anymore. We call it Girls' Weekend.

You see, this weekend is just for us. It's a time when we pawn our kids and pets and responsibilities off on spouses, partners and roommates and leave civilization behind. We bring piles of magazines, books, drinks and food and give a huge sigh of relief when we get there. We look forward to catching up on each other's lives as much as sitting on the pier with a beer and a trashy book with no interruptions except to decide on what to eat next.

What amazes me every year is how well it works. We're all very different from each other. We're married, single, gay, straight, career women, working moms, stay-at-home moms, democrats, republicans--suffice it to say we have virtually every female demographic covered, except for geriatric, although we're certainly headed that way. Still, we talk till we can't talk anymore. We consult each other on child-rearing, jobs and mates.

What might be surprising to those who know us is that we talk surprisingly little trash on the Girls Weekend. It's all about fun and very little responsibility. We're not out to dump on our spouses or partners, even though that's not an official rule. In fact, the only rule, and it's really unspoken, is that anybody whose spouse or partner calls more than twice during the weekend is mercilessly harassed. It's only fair, because the primary goal of Girls' Weekend is that it's all about us and having fun. This is the one time a year when we try and remember who we are and sometimes who we were. It's our chance to be selfish, even when it feels foreign.

By the end of the weekend, after we've eaten and laughed and crafted and sunbathed and floated in the lake, most of us are ready to get back. We miss our families and our air conditioners and sometimes even our routines. So with our spirits buoyed and friendships solidified we head back for another year of life--whatever that means to each of us.

Most importantly, we know that we can look forward to this weekend for many years to come. Damn, we're lucky.