Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Queen Latifah and Regina Hall have nothing on the Ya-Yas.
While the Hollywood quartet recently starred in the blockbuster movie Girls Trip about an epic ladies’ vacation, Georgia natives Shelia Jackson, Sheila Drake, Teresa Tynes, Alicia Evans, Tia Evans and Ava Weaver have been starring in their real life girls’ trips for years.
The group’s name is taken from the 2002 movie Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but their clique is made up of blood relatives, in-laws and friends that have become family. All members of the historic Springfield Baptist Church of Greensboro, Georgia, they have been going on annual girls’ trips since 2011.
They have visited Puerto Rico, Aruba and the Turks and Caicos Islands. This year Barbados is their destination. The group said they had heard great things about Barbados’ beaches, good weather, food, turtles and friendly people.
Before landing in Bim on Wednesday, the group conducted research to find out about local culture and their vacation T-shirts were printed in Barbados’ national colours.
The front reads –“The Real Barbadolls of the Caribbean – Girlfriends Get Her Way 17”, while their nicknames are printed on the back with their own brand of “Barbie”.
Jackson is Cyber Barbie, Drake is Sassy, Tynes is Boss, Evans is SAA (Super Agent Accountant), Evans is Quirky and Weaver is Bae-Bie.
Weaver, who was the designated spokesperson for the crew, told EASY: “This is the one time of the year when the husbands, the kids and the jobs take a back seat and we take care of ourselves.”
Their annual trip started off with some turbulence, as they missed two flights before even arriving in Barbados – first from their home state and then their connecting flight to Barbados.
But even with the setbacks, the women kept a positive outlook, eagerly discussing what they were looking forward to doing on the island.
While dancing is a top priority for some, Tynes made it clear that rest was at the top of her to-do-list while Evans just wanted to swim with the turtles.
Whatever they do they intend the trip to be a time for restoration and rejuvenation.
“We’ve come here to laugh, we’ve come here to cry, to give each other advice and sometimes not to advise, just to listen,” Weaver added.
As they laughed and chatted, the easy familiarity and love built from decades of friendship shone through as they acknowledged that despite their closeness, there will at times be some discord.
“You get mad at your brother and sister, you fall out, but where you gonna go?” was how Drake put it as her friends erupted in laughter.
“We don’t always agree but through the disagreements, love brings us all back together and we fall back in. We’ve learned how to listen with ears of love.
“These are the people who are really going to tell you the truth. Sometimes it hurts, speaking from experience but we know each other well enough to know where it’s coming from and that’s why the anger doesn’t last long because these are the real people,” Weaver added.
Tynes chimed in: “We’ve come to appreciate each other’s strengths and we give each other a place to be. What her strength is might not be mine. We let each other be who we are and we are not offended by it.” (TG)
