The at-home mother's life: it was a race with no finish line.

There are always times in life that you don't fit in. But you have to go forward and make a place for yourself. That's what growing up is all about. Being strong and believing in yourself-even when you're most afraid.

Their friendship was more important than any relationship. Guys would come and go; girlfriends were forever.

She still felt shell-shocked by all of it, numb. Beneath the numbness, though, was a raw and terrible anger that was unlike anything she'd felt before. She had so little experience with genuine anger that it scared her. She actually worried that if she started screaming, she'd never stop.

It occurred to her suddenly, sharply, that she wanted to be in love... She wanted not to feel so damned alone in the world.

We can't live other people's lives for them. Even if we love them.

We women. as glue for the family. lead lives that are important and conflicted. What we women choose to give up for our families is important and valid.