Morale Booster

My High School girlfriends keep in touch by way of a round robin letter. It takes almost a full year for the letter to make the rounds. There are 13 in our group, and the name of our club was the SLGs. This time, Freda emailed her letter in addition to sticking it in the mail, and the first paragraph really got to me - Freda always did have a way with words! Anyway, these are words that mean a lot to me on the eve of my 70th birthday! Please pardon my sentimentality.
Here's Freda's first paragraph:

I was really struck this time, even more than usual, as I read the wonderful Robin letters, by just how awe-inspiring you all are! And what a fascinating privilege it has been and is to witness and participate in the life journeys of the SLG’s -- girlfriends still, after all these decades. Our letters show deep interests, vibrancy of living, compassion, love, caring, diligence, lots of humor, appreciation of all that we have, and a mental balance and depth of character that get us through the really tough times in our lives (these seem to increase as we age). Three Cheers for the SLG’S!!!