Last month we talked about the Ya-Yas.  This month we feature the story of another close knit group of Southern women, the Same Sweet Girls.  But don't let their name fool you.  They aren't particularly sweet, and they're hardly girls anymore.  Yet they still remain the same.  The same unlikely and imperfect group of girlfriends they've always been.

 

The Same Sweet Girls met freshman year at their Southern all girl college.  They were your typical college girlfriends - a group of six who bonded over late night chats, parties and studies.  But they were also an unlikely group:  a jock, an artist, a dancer, a debutante, a mother hen, and one who joined later but never really belonged.  Their friendship consisted of fun and happy times until the sudden death of one of them several years after school.  The girls then promised to always remain friends and be there for one another.

 

Time passed and the Same Sweet Girls pursued careers, got married and had babies.  Though distance separated them, they still managed to get together twice a year.  Now in their late 40's, they find themselves in different places in life, but their same flaws and problems continue to challenge them.

 

Corrine is the oddball of the group.  She's a gourd artist who has struggled with depression.  She married her manipulative and controlling shrink who wreaked havoc on her life.  Lanier is the lovable screw-up.  She has a special knack for getting involved with the wrong guys.  When she finally does marry her Prince Charming, she eventually screws that up too.  Astor is the exotic one.  She's the mysterious and alluring dancer with a hidden agenda.  Julia is Ms. Perfect.  She's beautiful, sophisticated and the First Lady of Alabama.  She's a pro at hiding her pain and unhappiness.  Byrd is Mama Byrd.  She's the well-meaning meddlesome advice-giver the others take with a grain of salt.  Finally, there is Rosanelle.  She's the one who doesn't really belong, who doesn't get what the others are about, the replacement for their lost friend Dixie.

 

The story focuses on a recent summer gathering of the girlfriends.  Corrine, who has not been feeling well, tries to get out of making the trip, but the others will hear nothing of it.  As the weekend continues, the friends grow more concerned about Corrine and make her promise to seek help.  As Corrine attempts to get her mystery illness diagnosed, each woman's individual story evolves in more detail as they confront things that are not working in their lives.  Corrine fights to once and for all rid herself of her ex-husband's influence.  Lanier battles her urge to become involved with yet another wrong guy.  Julia forces herself to address her somewhat sham of a marriage, and Astor is unable to keep up the facade of martyr wife as her friends find increasing evidence of littered affairs.  As Corrine's illness progresses, the girlfriends are brought even closer together as they realize they may lose another.

 

It is easy to relate to the Same Sweet Girls.  Not because we're gourd artists or First Ladies, but because they are very human.  They don't always get along, and sometimes they downright don't like each other.  But when things get tough, they are able to rise above the pettiness and disagreements and be there for each other.  Just like you know you would for the special girlfriends in your life.

About the author:  Cassandra King is a native of Alabama, where she formerly taught English and creative writing classes.  She has published stories and essays in various quarterlies and anthologies, as well as the novel The Sunday Wife.  Cassandra currently resides in South Carolina with her husband, and she belongs to a real-life Same Sweet Girls group, which reunites every year.