Friendships

Nearly every woman I work with wants the same thing. She is looking for like-minded women and has no idea where they are. One of my clients put it to me this way: “Are we all just sitting in our own little globes, wishing for a friend?” The most useful thing I know about finding your people comes from an online dating profile, which is not where I expected to find it…

Retirement can open a door for you that you have been waiting years to walk through. The children are grown, your busy calendar is finally quieter, and your travel bucket list is sitting there…waiting. Italy. Portugal. Japan. A river cruise through Europe. A month in Mexico. A walking tour in Scotland. The desire is there. The time may finally be there, too…

There comes a time in life when you have to stop walking down a one-way street. It took me a long time to understand that. I’m in my 80s now, and I’ve outlived every close friend I ever had. I’m not talking about acquaintances or people I knew casually. I’m talking about the friends you could call at two in the morning. The people you laughed with, worked with…

One cold afternoon last January, three friends and I started planning our summer getaway. Living in four different states, we enjoy an annual getaway together…

A table of women laughing before the senior center program. A group photo from the church retreat. Smiling faces in the park district newsletter after Bunco night. It’s easy to look at moments like these and conclude that everyone else has found the friendships you’ve been searching for. Those moments are real. But they’re only one expression of friendship…

We are a group of seven women of a certain age, sitting around the dinner table (yes, there is wine), talking about relationships. Since we don’t know one another that well, there are lots of questions…

As we age, we often find it harder to make friends. Many of the friends we still have are those we made as children, teenagers, or as adults with small children. I have always travelled a lot. From about the age of 10, I have been journeying around…

The next time you see a tree, let it remind you of the value of friendship and community. When I turned 70, I found myself stunned and lost, wondering “Where did everyone go?” I had recently left full-time work, and around the same time, my grandson, whom I’d raised, launched into young adulthood…

The air inside the market carried the scent of yeast and something faintly floral. Coastal fog clung to the redwoods, but here the light through salt-hazed windows came in warm, settling over bins of produce and jars of honey. The space, built from reclaimed cedar, felt worn in the right places…

I don’t know about you, but as I get older, my tolerance for small talk decreases. I used to be in a profession in which schmoozing was important. I often took CEOs of public companies out to dinner to discuss their business goals. I advised many management teams and formed meaningful relationships with the investment community…