It is an odd thing, friendship. I have two female best friends. We got together when we first came to this area from elsewhere when we had very young children.
All of us came from quite far away. Each of us had a sister but our sisters not here and we became each others sisters. For instance, I could go round to see one of my friends and say "I'm having a dinner party. You're not invited but could I borrow your big dish?"
This was in the 1970s and none of us worked until our children started school. For two years when we each had one child at primary school and one child at playgroup we each had a "day off" when one of the three of us looked after the toddlers so the other two could do other things. It was brilliant I used to go to art classes and swim.
When the mother of one of my friends died suddenly, I dropped everything and drove my friend a hundred and fifty miles whilst our other friend looked after all the children. We didn't have to ask her. We knew she would do it.
Over the years we have weathered many storms and changes in our lives. We all had different types of marriages. One got divorced, then her ex-husband remarried. We spent a lot of time with her at the time of the separation. The other two of us are still married but have quite different types of marriages. One, a marriage where they have spent quite a lot of time apart but are still together, whilst I am in a very close relationship which has lasted since our teenage years. We all went on holidays together before the divorce but since then the five of us have had many holidays together.
We three old ladies still live close by but can go weeks without any contact. My OH is my very best friend but my two female friends are always there for each other as I am for them.