One of my favorite comic strips was “Cathy,” the strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite that ran from the year I graduated from college (1976) until 2010. Cathy was my everywoman – always struggling with food, love, work and family. I loved her daily pokes at life, especially her signature “Ack!,” which described everything from exercising to buying a bathing suit.
My recent Girls’ Trip to the beach with childhood friends Sheree and Michelle was, for the most part “Ack!” free.
As it should have been. I mean, after all, Sheree and I started out sharing sandboxes at age 6, and Michelle joined us six years later for the years that have followed. If we don’t know each other pretty well by now, we never will.
We had a great time. The week was full of laughter at our quirks and mishaps, the great food that comes from traveling with a foodie (Michelle) and the needed downtime that comes from traveling with born relaxers (Sheree and me).
The weather and views were blessings – from the white sands and blue waters of Orange Beach, Alabama, to the timing of the moon reaching for its full status and showing off in glorious fashion.
The only “Acks” were when we tried to get an approved picture of the three of us.
Michelle had given us each beautiful frames to hold a remembrance snapshot of we Three Musketeers at the beach. Last year we did a balcony group “selfie” that had that weird angle that group selfies have. This year I volunteered to ask innocent passersby to take our picture.
The first one was at a restaurant called Cobalt, with the three of us standing in front of an aquarium. The second one was outside at The Wharf with beautifully lit palm trees swaying in the background.
The reviews were quick to come in: “Ack! My eyes are closed.”
“Ack! I hate standing on the end. I want to be standing sideways in the middle.”
“Ack! This color blouse does nothing for me.”
“Ack! I look like a football player with shoulder pads.”
“Ack! You have to crop this one above the waist.”
“Ack! You will have to crop this one above my chubby neck.”
Women love to take photos. We don’t so much love to be in them. Don’t look for a picture accompanying this column.
It’s not happening.
Sherri Gardner Howell has been writing about family life for newspapers and magazines since 1987. She lives in West Knoxville, is married to Neville Howell and has two sons and three grandsons. Her newest adventure is as a travel agent with her own company, SGH Go Travel. Email her at sghgotravel@gmail.com.