Where moms meet

Kids can be the spark for frenships between neighborhood moms, but it's ethe everday activities and support that kee them together — sometimes for life. In honor of Mother's Day this weekend, we salute mothers and friends.

By Dawn Hinshaw and Dawn Kujawa - dhinshaw@thestate.com and dkujawa@thestate.com

No. 1 on Celeste Osterberg’s speed dial is her husband.

No. 2 is her best friend and fellow mom, Charise Dockery.

The two women get together once a week to walk along riverfront park and talk, much of their conversation about family.

“She’s a great listener,” said Osterberg, who met Dockery at church about five years ago.

Coming up this weekend is Mother’s Day, a time to reflect on life’s first relationship between mother and child.

But it’s also a good time to think about the connections that have made us better mothers — many of them with fellow moms.

From the time a woman finds out she’s pregnant or adopting, these friends are the ones who throw baby showers; share hand-me-down maternity clothes and dog-eared books; and encourage us to take care of ourselves.

Once our babies are here, our circles expand to include the neighborhood and school moms we meet through our kids — at parks and ball fields, library story times and drop-off lines.

As a mom, there are two things we can be sure of.

One, that the years will speed by, filled with surprises and self-doubt, fulfillment and heartache.

The other, that we can always turn to fellow moms to advise, inspire, reassure, listen.

Before we know it, baby sitters and long-ago playmates are sending out graduation announcements.

At every stage of our lives as mothers, it seems there are opportunities for new friendships.

Three years ago, Karen Bickley and Connie Cahill met through treatment for breast cancer. The two became fast friends, despite a generation’s age difference.

“We go to lunch and we talk about usual girl things,” Bickley said.

“What’s up with the grandkids, what are you doing for their birthdays — that kind of thing.”

Children and family, it seems, continue to bind our friendships.

— By Dawn Hinshaw and Dawn Kujawa