Dinner at home…I’ll take it pretty much anytime over a crowded restaurant.  Add great company and a fabulously prepared Italian meal and you’ve got the recipe for an amazing evening.  I had the best time spending last night in exactly that place, celebrating my friend Terri’s 50th birthday with my 6 Man team.  Terri is the “founder”, the one who rallies the troops every year, gets us going on the costume and holds the tradition together.  I was lucky enough to find my way on to this team 8 years ago, and have been blessed by this amazing group of women ever since.  The chef of this amazing meal was my dear friend and favorite beach partner Vanessa, her gift of hospitality overflows in her kitchen.  I think she ran a bed and breakfast in Tuscany in her past life.  

The evolution of girl power that I got to enjoy last night is a lesson in why the journey of life is such a gift.  Between us we have 16 kids, own businesses, some of us have husbands at home, some are single moms, have survived cancer, have put kids through college, provide healthcare in some of LA’s tenderest spots where love, advice and support are equally if not more necessary than medical care, have been shaped by the medical conditions of our children, have lived on different continents, taught generations of students, and driven a million miles to ASC, StubHub and beaches beyond the South Bay to support our kids and a sport that we all love.  The accomplishments are endless and that is just the short list. 

The cool thing about sitting around a table like that is that I could feel the evolution, the raw support that comes from a group that has been there. You can look across the table and feel it coming from any single one of their eyes.  I remember being in my late 20’s, maybe barely 30 and having people tell me, just wait until you turn 40…that’s when the *$%* really hits the fan…and around that table, you could say that we have each experienced that in a real way. But what is produced in by the battle testing flames of exposure are women who get it. There was no gossip, no fanfare just laughter and realness mixed in with a dance party that featured everything from Chaka Khan to 50 cent.  I couldn’t help but think as Vanessa’s teenage daughters hung with us, helping serve dinner and learning the grace of life from their amazing mom…this is what you have to look forward to girls, enjoy every minute…but life on this side is looking good tonight.