As I was deciding what to write about, I was inspired by a group of people that play an important role in my life. Probably more than they know. Together, we share an ongoing group text. My text group, or therapy group most of the time, consists of six people. The five other people on the text are my “work friends” and they may know me better than anyone else. If you are a full-time employed person, you know that you spend most of your waking hours at work. I spend more time with this group than I do my own family. They are actually an extension of my family. As I began writing this post, I was curious to see when this group began…and who was the first contributor. Anyone with an iPhone knows that it can hours (maybe days?) to look back to find old texts, so between my phone and I, we decided that we couldn’t go back that far. Let’s just say it has been a WHILE; however, since I’m not trying to break a group text record, I would prefer to review the content rather than the length. We check in with each other on this group message almost daily (okay – maybe not every single day, but very often). The texts come in all forms. There are funny ones, like a screenshot of someone doing something ridiculous (sometimes this is us and sometimes these are actual people we know) or an e-card that we can’t post because it is far too inappropriate.
Next, there are the happy ones. The ones that let us know that a family member or friend got a new job or someone is going to be a mommy (or even a grandma). There are the venting texts when we just need to get something off our chests and, thankfully, we have an ongoing audience. Yep, this is that group text, where we can let it all out without boundaries nor filters; just raw - tell it like it is. Like when we can’t all get together because it is 11 p.m., but we need to scream! Sometimes there have been upwards of 100+ texts sent in a given night. And just like anything else, there are the texts that are sad. The ones where we have to share not so great news with each other because we need support and prayers from each other. And even though these are the toughest texts to receive, they are the ones that make our bond even stronger. Since this never ending text has started we have been through it all; weddings, deaths, births, new jobs, sickness, and on and on. But we share it all with each other - happy, sad and everything in between! Sometimes I literally laugh out loud and sometimes I cry, but no matter which it is, these people make my heart full. One of the never ending text members (I feel as if we need our own t-shirts with this on it) asked me why it seemed that so many trials had been presented to our little group, especially lately. My response was because we have each other to face all these hardships, and when we wonder why it doesn’t happen to others, it is because the Lord knows some people don’t have never ending group text friends in their lives and they would never be able to endure it. I would have crawled in a ball in the corner long ago without these people in my life. We have each other, which is wonderful. I hope most people can say they have some form of an ongoing text group. We all need support, and we all need to support, those special people in our lives. To my text group besties: you all make my life better just by being a part of it and for that I am truly and forever grateful! Thank you and I LOVE YOU!
