Gender-based tragedies, with a happy ending

Last year at this time I went to a fund raiser that was only for females. Within weeks of that event, I went to a party to which only females were invited. Both times, I was happy to have been invited. Both were awkward. Part of it was not knowing any of the guests very well, and part of it was that I felt something was missing. Back before boys thought we were interesting, we girls had non-stop fun together: we had our slumber parties, silly pranks, secrets, jokes, phone calls and games. But not anymore. Those girls gradually slipped away with their boyfriends, husbands, kids and their in-laws.
Tonight I had dinner with three other women, and it was really nice. Our original agenda involved patronizing the aforementioned female-only fund raiser for the second year in a row, but we elected instead for a quieter night of la trattoria, where a place to sit is guaranteed and you don't have to search for a refill. I liked the stories I heard. We all listened to each other. We laughed. We lamented. We learned. We had good food. We will do it again.