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Web page by Tvor (tvordj @ gmail.com) last
updated January 2007
This article is about friendship...sharing life's little ups and downs with my girlfriends.
There are three of us, Josephine, Tracy and I and we have been close friends since the early 90's. For most of that time, we have held an ongoing weekly contest which runs from Friday to Friday to include an entire weekend. When the phone rings and the voice on the other end says "Do you want to hear my entry for the week?", you had better be ready for anything.
An "entry for the week" covers a wide range of criteria. The winner is the one who has said, seen, heard, heard of or experienced the funniest, most bizarre, ironic, embarrassing, frustrating, absurd or exciting thing that week. There is one rule: It has to be true.
One recent winning entry was the hysterically funny description of the contortions involved while trying on one of those all-in-one foundation garments (euphemistically called a "body shaper"). After several methods of removal were applied unsuccessfully, it seemed the "over-the-head" approach was most likely to succeed. The image of this woman's arms, ears and head trapped by vengeful spandex in a 4'x4' department store dressing room had us in stitches!
Another of us spent many hours painfully attempting to upgrade her computer; reformatting its hard drive, reinstalling software, only to forget a password causing her to start over, yet again. The final kick in the pants, after successfully completing her upgrade (which took 3 or 4 tries and several long distance calls to the man who sold it to her), was the lack of sound where there should have been some. Turns out the speakers weren't plugged in!
This often recalled winning entry has achieved "Legend" status. It is the story of a relationship whose end was definitively signified by the thud of five pounds of frozen hamburger hitting a driveway. It's flight followed the hasty retreat of a newly ex-boyfriend to the tune of "And you can take that with you!"
I have had my ego deflated when, at the age of 36, I attended a family wedding. A friend of the bridal couple assumed I was the aunt of the groom (who's age was approximately 30) rather than his cousin. Not the image I was trying to project!
I am also historically the financial victim of shopping trips. Every time I go shopping with Josephine, no matter what the original plan for the excursion was, *I* end up spending more money than she! Tracey's been her victim as well. Jo's great at spending our money! Our favourite story is the time she and I went looking for a $15 lipstick for her and came home with a $200 sapphire ring for me! She never did find the lipstick she was looking for because we were in the wrong mall for the store she was seeking!
Josephine got married in 1995 but her honeymoon got off to a somewhat dubious start. She drove to Moncton to meet her pilot husband, planning to stay overnight with him in the Crystal Palace in Moncton, New Brunswick. She was all set up in the Elvis/Rock-and-Roll suite, alone. And remained that way. Her husband's work schedule was changed at the last minute and he was rerouted to Newfoundland for the night! Rather than spend her honeymoon alone, she bought a bottle of wine (or two) and called a few girlfriends who lived locally and invited them over!
Through the years many situations have had us shaking our heads in disbelief, laughing sympathetically with the "Entrant". Entries as minor as bad haircuts, missed busses in the rain or car trouble, or as major as relationship crises or serious job stress... there is always someone there with soft shoulderpads, a sympathetic ear and a laugh to comfort you. Then again, some weeks may not have any entries at all! Such is life!
The contest is our way of supporting each other through difficult times, laughing at life's pitfalls and sharing our triumphs. It's comforting to have others help you see the humour in a frustrating situation because you know they've been there too.
Most of all, this contest brings us closer together, reinforcing the bond of our friendship.
