The Group of Friends I Didn’t Know I Needed

At the beginning of the year Eve and I decided one of our goals was to make new friends. If you are 45+ you will know this is not as simple as arranging a play date and bam you are besties. No it is a little more involved. Eve found a group of 40+ ladies on Facebook who walk once a week, so we decided to join in. We didnt end up finding the ladies on our first attempt and then Eve started going to Joburg every weekend to her partner. So I put on my big girl pants and went on my own and I am so glad that I did.

I have been walking with the ladies since about February I think. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of making the time each Sunday but now my family knows Sunday mornings are mine. We are a core group now of about 8 ladies who walk each week with a few ladies joining in here and there. We have, naturally, developed friendships and know what is happening in each others lives. The best part about our discussions is that because the bulk of the ladies are over 50 and mostly divorced, we don’t sit and talk about our kids and husbands. It is not just another moms group – it is a group of women with years of wisdoms, life lessons and experience. We talk about everything from budgets, to menopause, to yoni balls, to TV shows, to unidentified objects hurtling to earth and so much more.

I LOVE IT.

We all have been through something – ugly divorces, figuring out sexuality, loss, abuse and a host of other life traumas. But we have all survived and are stronger for it. So our discussions are so different to the parenting discussions I have often found myself a part of over the last 23 years. It is such a refreshing change of pace and almost like I have levelled up.

To be honest, I am not sure if friendship was what I was actually looking for initially. I knew I needed to move more and there is always a lot more accountability when you walk in a group. But I didn’t just find the accountability, I also found a group of friends I didnt know that I needed.

I look forward to our weekly weeks and because we walk somewhere different each week I am discovering new places, new trails and new adventures. Sometimes we don’t chat much while we walk but there is always an explosion of discussion at the coffee afterwards. It is my weekly food for my soul – while I get fitter.

If you are in Pretoria and want to find out more about our group – check out the Facebook page.