Four years ago I decided I wanted to develop deeper relationships with a few women surrounding me. I decided that I was going to start a modern-day quilting bee which is formally known as a book club.

I have just arrived home from book club and I have to introduce you to these four real women. I think there should be a television series about them.

The first cast of character in this lovely book club that I look forward to every month is:

• Princess P. She’s the sage one of the group. Her laughter could set off a tsunami because it is so wide and deep and contagious. Princess P is one of those people that is a deep friend. I worked beside P.P. in my first couple of years of teaching. Since then she is always been a good friend to me, Sexy Neck and all three of my boys. In fact one of the treasured thing that my boys have are the quilts that she has made each of them. She’s married to a smart businessman and public servant. She has raised beautiful, grounded and independent twins and a third child who loves life, her family, friends and firefighters.

The second cast in our crew of book lovers is:

• Dreadlock D. D is an early 30’s. She loves everyone, well except her neighbour by the same name. She is an inspiring person who loves to cook, care for her two sweet children, her Electrician husband and the extended family. She does not want to be a lunchtime supervisor even though that might be in her future one day, but she will definitely be an inspiration to many people no matter what she does. She’s one of those people that is always there for you no matter what. She can light up a room with her humour and a few F-bombs thrown in for good measure.

The third character we will call PTP

• I have known PTP since I first moved to Vtown thirteen years ago. She has been a steadfast friend,pre-kids,during kids, during labor,pregnancy and all sorts of stages and crazies. She is an athlete with fortitude and strength that you wouldn’t believe. She is a paddling physiotherapist. She is a previous Ballerina turned rower extraordinaire now runner, cross-country skier and I could go on. She is a fierce athlete and an amazing friend. PTP takes care of her amazing kids, her Educator husband, and the dog. She’s a pretty incredible, thoughtful and caring person.

The last character in our beautiful bookclub is:

• Dr. K. She not only takes care of our eyes, she takes care of her family too. Her husband loves planes, trains and automobiles. (Okay maybe the trains should be replaced with helicopters.) She encourages all his passions, takes care of their wonderful Kindergarten son as well as the dog. Kim is also an incredible friend. She has provided more food, encouraging words and time during this cancer, torn Achilles, sickness, pregnancy, childbirth stage in my life. She is also pretty incredible neighbor and I wish that we had never moved off the street. In the midst of great Hawaiian themed parties, hockey and exercising she manages to keep everything in balance, especially her relationships.

This cast of four beautiful women started off as a book club but have become to me like four humongous feet! Yup, I said FEET.

They are all different shapes and sizes. They have helped me stay standing and even walk through this time. Sometimes I have needed them to be my own feet and sometimes they have walked beside me nudging me along. Sometimes we all get a little smelly, especially me, but no matter what feet are very very important and I cannot tell you how important these women have become to me as I go through this time of moving cities, new beginnings and new relationships and really a new life through this disease called cancer.

These women are also like feet because
they have five toes sometimes all going in different directions with their family, their work, their friends, hobbies (do we have hobbies?), and their dreams and they managed to somehow always stay ‘attached’ and grounded no matter what’s going on. They are able to be real about their marriages and their children and what it is really like to be a mother and a woman in the 21st-century.

I’m so grateful for these beautiful feet/Book Clubbers and I’m so grateful that we can spend this time together and I can’t wait to see what the year entails for all of us.

Now make sure you have a glass of wine, some good appetizers and a good book, but most importantly be in a “Club”!

PS. We skyped with a real live author tonight at book club. Did you know that authors did that? We didn’t. This author was a force. Post coming soon.