Friends on the same journey

Some time ago I read that friends are important due, in part, to who we become when we're with them. I can't remember the exact words, but there's a magic (my word) that occurs. "You" bring out something in me that only you can. I "become" in relation to what synergy we have and what gets created when we're together.
All this to say 5 of us gathered this morning for two or three hours and we're all "under construction". We're each trying to "find out who we are," and not that gibberish about "finding ourselves" that was part of popular culture a few years ago. When you go through a divorce, the separating of the two people is palpable. There's a ripping and tearing of your life in such a way as to require you to build yourself, to figure out who you are after the debris settles. Well, it still hasn't settled altogether, but the infrequent revelations are just "irritating"  reminders, rather than the jagged lightening and cacophonous thunder of the original storm.
Anyway, back to this unique group. Since we're each putting ourselves back together, ala Humpty Dumpty, we are encouraging, listening, celebrating, questioning, and even holding each other accountable. This last facet is what makes this group of friends unique for me. The accountability factor adds a new dimension. It allows me to say more than I would otherwise. It has given me permission, so to speak. Maybe it's me. Maybe I've just taken a leap in the area of relating. But I think it's the shared experience. I've not had that with my other friends in just the same way.
I am here to say that going through a divorce is downright painful. Hurtful. Excruciating. But the upside is finding these women. We are invisibly holding hands like in the game of "Red Rover, Red Rover, send so-and-so right over." Remember how you would hold hands and call out to someone to come run into your chain of hands to see if you could keep that person out or if he/she would break the chain? Well, no one can break our chain! We are walking forward together, not just holding hands, but with arms intertwined.
Thanks, girls. I couldn't do it without you. Someday, I'll sing "Thanks For the Memories" just like Bob Hope. Hey, hope was what we talked about this morning!  God be with you till we meet again.