Why We Should All Have Older Friends, Especially When We Are In Our Twenties

By Margo Greenbaum

I just turned 24, and it scares me that I am less than a year away from being in my mid-20s. Like many women in their early 20s, my future is filled with the unknown. I worry if I will surpass all the goals that myself and society have laid out. I fear growing up and don't want to see my body physically age. This past fall, I met someone whom we will call LG and, as I write this, she is still in her 30s.

I am very accustomed to having older friends, but LG is different because she, too, has friends of different ages. LG has yet to make me feel like a child, but instead a part of a sisterhood that so many of us yearn for. LG and I quickly opened up to each other, and she is one of, if not the only person with whom I feel I can be vulnerable and show all the different sides and layers of myself.

LG has taught me that age is nothing but a number. Her childlike personality and fun-loving nature come out often. She continually sets new goals and achieves them. She travels the world with her closest girlfriends and is still deeply in love with her husband, as if they were still in college.

LG makes me less scared to grow up. She has shown me what a healthy relationship looks like and what I need to look for in my own Prince Dre. LG went back to school to enhance her credentials and, without knowing, inspired me to start the process of getting my college thesis published in an academic article. She has let me experience her downs by her side and, at the same time, has reminded me that the sun does come out again.

There is no competition between us, and there is no jealousy due to the age gap. She is the person I can ask any question or seek advice from because she has already lived through the moments I am going through. She has become one of my biggest and most genuine supporters and has shown me what true and unconditional friendship is. As an only child, I used to cry for an older sibling, and now I can say I have picked the most amazing and unique big sister.

Every young woman in her 20s needs her own LG. You'll be better for it.

Happy Birthday, LG. You and I in this lifetime and everyone after it.