“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” — Hebrews 13:2

This week’s homily is about girlfriends, the ones I knew I have, but especially the ones I had no idea I had until they suddenly appeared. I have my good female friends, the ones I know I can count on all the time — the ones who attend parties with me. Here’s a picture of some of my A-List friends — I took this when we were at a Mets game.

These are the women that I always know I can count on to care enough about me to help me when times are down. The women in this picture have known me since I was in my teens (just a few years ago, I joke).

But this week, I became particularly mindful of the women who have helped me and treated me with enormous kindness even though they had no particular reason to do so. I was practically a stranger to them.

People who live outside of New York City may think that this is not the way New Yorkers are — that we’re a cold bunch. They couldn’t be more wrong. Look at the way we cradled each other after 9/11 — that’s our real character. We’re all toughness and bluster until somebody falls down. Then we gather around and pick each other up.

The women this next photo are virtual strangers to me, and yet, they behaved as kindly as sisters ever have. They met me first when my ex-husband and I were looking for wedding bands, just having been engaged. My ex had purchased my engagement ring from Rosanne, the owner of the shop, and he told them how much he loved me. They met me, and we tried on rings together. Rosanne employs only women jewelers — something that makes the shop have a terrific character. They give out terrific advice to men picking out gifts for women they love. It also has the chatty informality going there as if one were going to the beauty salon.

When my birthday and Christmas would roll around, my ex would swing by Rosanne’s and purchase a trinket for me — he gave me a couple of diamond pendants and some pearls.

Rosanne also buys gold and repairs jewelry. She has a terrific woman who works for her who delicately repairs broken jewels. She’s the one in the back of the photo. I went in there with a charm that belonged to my grandmother, and these ladies helped me buy a bracelet and attach the charm to it. I wear it on my wrist now.

When my ex-husband became scary and threw me out, I had to sell everything of value I had just to have enough to survive. I came to Rosanne’s and asked her to buy my gold. These ladies had already been nice to me, and I knew she would not steal from me. When I explained why I was selling, these wonderful women wept with me. Each of them hugged me as if we had known each other forever. They bought my gold, but they insisted I come back regularly for more hugs.

Here’s a picture of them with me taken yesterday. There is no more need for weeping. I’m the one wearing red, smiling the largest smile. These women are so wonderful. It’s amazing that they were so nice to me even though they barely knew me, that they are so happy for me now that I’m back on my feet living my life in joy. Why were they so kind? I am no one special to them — just another customer.

My accountant, Helen Kyrillidis, and her bff, attorney Susan Rizos, are another pair of suddenly discovered good friends. I had to see Helen about a matter related to old taxes, and she and Susan were sitting together laughing in their offices in Astoria, Queens. I wish I had a photo of these women to post here. They look smart, shrewd, confident, and a little tough. However, they have each expressed concern for me, delight at my triumphs, have worried about me like two clucking hens when I have made mistakes.

All the sociologists talk about how disconnected we are one from the other in today’s society. With kinship ties less stable — divorces at such a high, non-marriage, single parenting, abandoned elderly folks — we can surely see that on this father’s day we are all less connected in traditional ways than we ever have been. Community ties as we have defined them are frayed.

However, I am encouraged by my women acquaintances. Without a strong exterior social structure, perhaps we females remain kind, loving , generous, empathetic, and full of the spiritual gift of hospitality. I trust that women have been given at birth a sense of connection that cannot be permanently disrupted by the bad behavior of men who leave us, cheat us, beat us, treat us like trash. I’m back on my feet in part thanks to women like these half-strangers, who treated me as somebody important enough to care about.

Medical science backs up my assertions. It is a proven fact that those diagnosed with cancer have a much, much greater chance of survival if they have women to talk to. This is equally true for men and women — women are the ones who make us feel better when we’re down for the count. Guys surely have other strengths. I thank God for some of the men in my life, too, who have been incredibly supportive. However, there is something about the way women talk to each other and to men that makes the human race feel, despite evidence to the contrary, that everything is going to be all right.

So go to Rosanne’s Jewelry store — the address is 1040 Park Boulevard in Massapequa Park, telephone 516-799-7722. Tell them you saw them on my blog, and I’ll bet they’ll give you a hug if you need one.

Go into the world and see if you don’t have friendships that take you by surprise. People are kinder, more compassionate, than you perhaps think. Thank God for that. And thank you to those who have entertained me as if I were an angel sent to them. I am no angel, alas, but I am your sister. Thank you to those sisters in Christ whom I will never meet on Earth but who regularly practice Christian hospitality. We are family, despite what the sociologists can quantify. Together, we will endure somehow until the sky cracks.