…….. if they can’t get you good and bloody drunk, make you cry laughing, have a good sob with you, take you to get your first tattoo and pass on the number of their divorce lawyer?  I mean really, what more is there?  The foundation of friendship for me, is a shared sense of humour, riding roughshod together through the ups and downs and the ability to ‘pick-up-where-you-left-off’, whether it be a day/a month/sixteen and a half weeks, fourteen hours and seven minutes/twenty seven whole years.  (Also an emergency stash of mother’s little helper, to take the edge off and get a good night’s sleep in times of trouble).  Nope? Ah well, that bit’s just me then……

Talking through problems, not always taking the easy route, sometimes being tough – but always being no further away than the end of a phone line (just like in the olden days).  And more importantly, ensuring your friends know exactly that.  

Life isn’t always easy and things change constantly; men come and go, we scatter with the winds to the four corners of the planet, we get on with our lives and death is the only thing we can be certain of.   But enduring female friendships are a precious and unique thing that can get you through all of that: probably with the aid of bottle of gin and a sweary rant.  

They can help you withstand anything life throws at you; and conquer it, and keep on laughing on the other side.