I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that my reliance on my girlfriends has actually increased as I’ve matured, rather than fading to the sideline, as partners, careers, and children have emerged. Where once I relied on my girlfriends to literally keep me from drunkenly falling overboard on a university boat cruise (a university I didn’t even attend, no less), I now rely on them to help me dissect the motives of my children’s inexplicable behaviours, without telling me I’m “overthinking it” (even if I am). Gone are the days of enthusiastically choreographing, without a hint of irony, uncomplicated dance routines to Beck songs, but the camaraderie and the effort remain, and increase with each passing year. And thank god, because the alternative as it’s presented in “Girls” – fading friendships, growing up and old without true solidarity – looks kind of, well, lonely.