Just Iguanas

Photo: Vojko Kalan

Back in the day, whenever Cyndi Lauper's hit single, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" would play, my bestest girl friends and I would crank up the radio and then gleefully drown out the chorus with our own improvisation. Cyndi would sing, "They just a' wanna/They just a'wanna..." and we would top her with "They're just iguanas/They're just iguanas..." Don't ask me why we did this . . . no doubt for the same reason we had Prince getting diptheria instead of delirious or wore our pajamas to get ice cream at midnight . . . it was silly and it made us laugh.

I've been a little short on laughter and silliness this past week or so but, thankfully, NOT short on friends. My Just Iguana friends -- one of whom was scarcely walking when that tune was in its heyday and another of whom was (dear GOD!!) not even BORN at that time -- have been rallying around to keep my spirits up. (Even the Iguana in Absentia has been doing her part. She assures me she's eating gelato and cannoli in Italy for me. You can't beat a friend like that, now can you?!)

You can tell who your real friends are . . . they're the ones who walk in with casseroles (well, in New York, they take you out to dinner . . . or buy you cupcakes from Crumbs or Magnolia. But it amounts to the same thing.) when the rest of the world walks out.

But . . . and maybe this is more important . . . no, wait, I'm pretty sure this is more important . . .okay, okay! I KNOW this is more important. (But please don't stop giving me cupcakes!) Your real friends are also the people who will keep you true to yourself. Because your real friends not only want the best for you, they expect the best from you.

So thanks to all my Just Iguana friends -- and the Iguana Men in my life, too! -- who keep me singing on key! (Uh . . . metaphorically anyway . . . )