This group. For more than thirty years, they've had my back(side).
You'll often hear me say that when I married Dean, I moved into the greatest community on earth.
But this group is the ones who share my past.
I was thirteen. My family had just broken up, and my heart was broken. We'd just moved to a city an hour away, and I was set to start a brand new school without knowing a soul.
I remember feeling terrified and crying before I went to school that morning. I missed my stepdad (whom we left), and I felt alone and scared.
Then, I met these girls. They took me under their wing almost instantly, and we became "the group of seven." I had no idea they would become the security and steadiness I needed.
(Image: missing Kyla)
Instability within my family of origin would plague my school years (and beyond), but these girls provided me with consistency, a firm foundation, and the childhood I deserved. They showed me what's possible, and they've been my constants for more than thirty years.
Here we are in the summer of 2021 (less than four years from the shingles vaccine—yeah!), and we are still a part of each other's daily lives.
It should be noted that their group has been pretty solidly formed since about grade four, but much like Tom Cruise, I like to think I "completed" them when I arrived in grade eight. (Plus, I don't think they had a funny one yet.)
We often commented at our weddings that the spouses who enter this group do not just gain one—they gain seven. And, so far, we have really signed on the talent.
This past weekend, we gathered at our farm in east-central Alberta. It was not easy, as we navigated three provinces, 18 kids, and six spouses. But we did it. And it was better than we could have imagined.
Girlfriends. These are the ones that know all my stories. They know where I came from and how serendipitous it is that I landed in this place with such deep roots and long histories.
The magic of long friendships. Here's to those who love, support, and stand beside you along the journey.
I hope you all feel loved and valued today.
This post is part of Billi's website blog called "Stories from the Heart". For more click here, to subscribe click here.
Billi J Miller is an author, photographer, speaker, and writer from east-central Alberta, Canada, and is the creator of "The Women Among Us". Previously a city-living, 9-5 government worker, Billi moved to the country to marry the man of her dreams, a 4th generation Canadian farmer.
Billi noticed there were very few photographs of their rich, 100-year farming heritage. So, harnessing her entrepreneurial spirit, she created a successful business as a photographer and writer “telling stories from the heart and stories that matter.”
In 2016, she authored the first of a two-book series about the remarkable contributions of farmwives and has since been recognized on CBC, Global TV, City TV, as well as countless newspapers and magazines both in Canada and in the US. Billi continues the dialogue with her online blog series, “The Women Among Us."
When she isn’t working Billi loves to travel, read, and unwind watching true crime documentaries.