Last December, like every year around my birthday, I had my physical.  I’m always happy to get out the door with a little scolding and an overall stamp of approval.  The final part of the exam was my mammogram.  I had it the week of Christmas, great to check that off my ‘to do’ list just in time for the holidays.

So the phone call from a nurse a few days later threw me, “We saw something; you need to return.”  Whoa!  Unfortunately the 2^nd mammogram and ultra-sound identified a mass; a needle biopsy was necessary.

That’s when I sent a quick email to a handful of sister-friends, asking them to pray and believe with me that all would be fine.   Within seconds I received phone calls and replies, no questions or requests for details – just “I’m with you.”  The week leading up to the biopsy and the days of waiting for results was grueling beyond explanation. But those same sister-friends sent emails or called or sent text messages saying, “wanted you to know I’ve got your back”.  Two even flew in from the East Coast “just to be with you when you got results,” they said.  With all of that prayer, love and support, I really was at ease.  I was wrapped in peace and strength.  Whatever the outcome, I knew this posse of sister-friends was going to be with me.

A big smile and happy/grateful tears covered my face when my doctor called and said, “no cancer…nothing…nada…you’re fine!”  Thank God!  Excited and joyful notes, calls and texts flew fast and furious to this band of sister-friends who had “kept me”…. loved on me, encouraged me and lifted me.  Don’t know that I could’ve endured that time without them.

Yes, women do rock – not just because we make it happen in the corporate world or in our businesses, but because we help “keep” each other sane during the bumpy parts of this road called life.  I have a new perspective – women rock because:

• we have the capacity to love and care for each other without reservation
• we stand in the gap for each other
• we don’t need a lot of information before we choose to support
• we jump in at a moment’s notice to “be there”
• we put our lives on hold to see about each other

Being your sister’s keeper is a really good thing….