I’ve told you all how my mother always made sure we surrounded ourselves with good influences. Most of all, she always reminded us to be proud of the person we are and not to change for anyone. We’ve all heard the expression, “Birds of a feather flock together.” It’s kind of terrible but kind of true all at the same time. The Spanish version of this, which I always heard, is…

Dime con quién andas, y te dire quién eres.

(Tell me who you surround yourself with and I’ll tell you who you are.)

This brings me to my best friend/amiga, Valerie. Valerie had her engagement party this past weekend. We truly believe we are the same person, and that we are both getting married. Her fiancé agrees. We’re old souls, pesada (lack sensitivity), intelligent and have the honor of being born to INCREDIBLE mothers.

We enjoy having drag show brunch dates with our favorite gals. Afterward, we’ll go hang out at the Clevelander on South Beach. These are the type of people we are. We are these people because of the women who raised us. Women who are retired and enjoy life as if they’re in their 30s. They’re still in their prime.

My mom was in Honduras for Christmas, and I went to Sandra’s (Valerie’s mom) house. I’m always welcomed with open arms. Valerie has embarrassingly inappropriate conversations with my mom. She’s told my little mom she’d like to stick her in her purse and just carry her around. There’s a confianza (familiarity) that I hadn’t experience prior to this friendship.

These women gave up everything for their children. They raised us to be loyal, caring, supportive and accepting. We followed their example, and in turn, these children found each other and established a formidable friendship. A friendship where there is loyalty – we care, we’re supportive and accepting.

As Valerie and I always say, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.”

Glad we all flock together, amigas!

Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.”