Meet our 2026 Galentine’s Day Contest Winners!
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As sure as I know anything, I know that my friendships with brave, smart, funny, thoughtful women have shaped my story. From my teenage years to today, the women around me have taught me how to follow my gut, picked me up when I was down, and always challenged me to be my best self.
This Galentine’s Day, I invited you all to celebrate your incredible female friendships with me by nominating your “Galentine” and sharing what makes your relationship so special. I was blown away by the dynamic duos in our community and could feel the love you have for one another leaping off my screen as I looked through the submissions.
So without further ado, let me introduce this year’s winners and runners up and share a little bit about how they encourage each other to be their best selves.
Our 2026 Winners: Kiya & Christina and Brandi & Jessica
Meet Kiya & Christina
What makes their friendship special: Unconditional love, infectious laughter, accountability, learning from each other’s different experiences.
Kiya and Christina have been best friends for more than a decade, and they have the matching tie-dye to prove it! Christine says lovingly, “Kiya is the sister I got to pick. I love her sense of humor, infectious laughter, unconditional love, and wisdom. I love that regardless of our significant age gap, racial, religious, and cultural differences, we are each other’s best friends and chosen family!”
What really stood out to me was the way these two friends have learned from their differences, challenged each other, and grown even closer along the way.
Kiya shared, “Christina challenges me when I do or say something she doesn’t like. Because she is very direct and honest, I trust her judgment. And because she is always loving & respectful, I can hear her criticism without getting my feelings hurt. I have grown in positive ways because of her feedback, both positive and negative.”
Meet Brandi & Jessica
What makes their friendship special: Optimism and courage in the face of hardship, shared spirituality, and showing up for their community.
Brandi and Jessica are bound by their steadfast and fighting spirit. After meeting at church, these two friends quickly went from acquaintances to sisters. Brandi admires Jessica’s fighting spirit as a survivor of both a heart attack and stroke, and how she keeps a smile on her face as she helps others struggling with their health or who are disabled.
“Jessica lets me know nothing can keep me down.”
When asked about Brandi, Jessica just smiled and said, “What can I say? She’s a sweetheart!” She admires Brandi’s calm spirit and inner strength, no matter what she’s facing. Through all of their health hardships, Brandi and Jessica keep showing up for each other and as volunteers in their community.
Our 2026 Runners Up!
Meet Ni-Ima and Natisha
Ni-lma and Natisha are cousins and best friends who know when and how to give each other a push in the right direction. Through all of life’s challenges, these Galentines know that they can always count on each other. “Ni-lma and I could have our fallouts or disagreements but it still won’t change how much I love her.”
“Natisha pushes in a way that not only motivates me but also boosts my confidence, because sometimes I can be my own worst enemy. She’s always right there to pick me up. I trust her with my whole being because she sees the best in me. We push each other to our full extent, that’s our unspoken rule.”
Meet Crystal and Cadee
The oldest friend many of us have is our mom, and that’s the story for Cadee and Crystal. Crystal always admired her daughter’s humble, generous spirit and found herself striving to be the best version of herself to set a positive example for her daughter. Now that Cadee is in college, Crystal is still amazed by the creative ways her daughter finds to bring a smile to people’s faces.
Cadee says that she wouldn’t be the person she is today without her mom, Crystal. “I love that my mom faces everything head-on! She’s gone through so much and continues to face hardships, yet she still finds the strength to get through it all. She’s always taught me to love myself, love others, and to stay humble.”
Meet Kate and Shannon
Kate and Shannon are sisters-in-law who are incredibly close, despite living far apart. Long-distance friendship isn’t always easy, but these two make time for each other, whether it’s to vent, swap recipes, or exchange parenting advice. Shannon shared, “What I love most about Kate is that she’s someone I can have intense hard venting conversations with about whatever’s bothering me but then we can end that same phone call laughing about something silly.”
No matter the miles that separate them, Kate says that Shannon still pushes her and helps her grow. “She gives me honest advice but in a sensitive, loving way and asks me the hard questions most friends and family won’t ask. She is an example that I strive to be.”
Meet Bonnie and Bonnie
These Galentines share so much in common, including a first name! Though they’ve only known each other for a few years, it already feels like the kind of bond that lasts a lifetime. They love each other’s caring spirit, the way that they nudge each other out of their comfort zone, and their warm reminders to not take life so seriously. Thinking back to when they first met, Bonnie shared, “I just knew there was something special about her.”
Sometimes, it’s the little things that really show you who your friends are. Bonnie planned a wonderful 80th birthday party for her Galentine that really made her feel loved. These two are true friends.
Thank you to our Grand Prize Winners, Runners Up, and to all of the Galentines who entered this year’s contest! Friendships like these don’t happen overnight. Trusting and understanding someone enough to pick up the phone in the middle of the night or share a little tough love takes care, patience, and effort.
I also volunteer at wescott with a group of people with depression and anxiety till they closed down the mental side. I did it for o er five years. I loved the work. I was told I could use it for a reference to help go in places and have group meetings and listen to people who needed to talk about thier depression anxiety are what had brought them to the bad place they might me we could talk about things in the group about things that helped us get back on our feet but could not tell them what to do just share and listen I was hoping to start doing this inthe Georgia hope are our local jail some people just need a good ear. I just need to get a foot in the door and a fried to help start up the grip again.