I do not put forth that I have gained a whole hell of a lot of wisdom over the years.  I have spent my fair share of time knocking my forehead against a variety of flat immovable surfaces beyond the point where any claim to productivity could be made.  But, if I have one piece of smarmy-but-true wisdom to pass on, it is this:

Do not ever undervalue your girlfriends.

I have spent my entire adult life in male-dominated professions and male-dominated company.  A good portion of my closest, most inimate friends have been male.  I participate in one of the most male-dominated and testosterone-charged sports around.  My standard answer to my male friends when asked for relationship advice is “Hell, I don’t understand women any more than you do…”

But I never could get through life without my girlfriends.  And I will tell you why.

1. Girlfriends instinctively know when you don’t want them to fix things.  When you are upset and venting to male friends, they inevitably feel compelled to try to fix the problem.   Sometimes even the quietest of men, when presented with a teary-eyed girl will respond with a veritable encyclopedia of well-intentioned and very sincere advice.  Or they will go out and kill something for you.  As flattering and heartwarming as that may be, sometimes, really, you don’t want advice or killing.  You just want an audience.  No man will sit there and in complete empathy say  “Oh, no!” and “Of course”, and “Oh, I would feel exactly the same!”, and “What a <insert derogatory of choice>!” at all the perfectly timed moments like a woman knows how to do.  And sometimes, really, that’s all we want or need.  Men need to be TOLD when it’s only the sympathetic ear we are looking for.  Women know this immediately and without explanation the minute they answer the phone call in the middle of the night.
2. Girlfriends can tell you if your butt really does look fat in that dress without having to navigate an emotional minefield.
3. Girlfriends have the innate ability to answer the middle-of-the-night phone call without saying things that are profoundly stupid or insensitive.   
4. Come to think of it, Girlfriends have the ability to actually wake up for the middle-of-the-night phone call.
5. Girlfriends publicly recognize value of the occasional therapeutic shopping trip.  Men know this too, they just don’t admit it.
6. Girlfriends know that we still love our men.  Even when we bitch.  Mightily.  And they can differentiate the mildly annoying from the dangerously intolerable.  And they will let us know when the line has been crossed.
7. Girlfriends know how to be enthusiastic about something you really love.  Even when they don’t.  This is an empathy that completely eludes most men.  When you wax enthusiastic about your latest passion, male eyes glaze over, and you know they are reviewing the previous evening’s ballgame or WoW session in their heads.

So, to Amy-Renee, and Bambi, and Charlotte, and Sheila, and Wendy, and my sisters, and all the Sarahs, and all my lovely bloggy Girlfriends reading this:

Thanks.  You are indispensible.