I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known.

No mother. Two small words, and yet within them lay a bottomless well of pain and loss, a ceaseless mourning for touches that were never received and words of wisdom that were never spoken. No single word was big enough to adequately describe the loss of your mother.

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.

I have often wished in the past few years that my mom were here to help me as I raised my own teenage son. As a girl, with my own mom, I thought I knew it all; now I know better. Somewhere, I know my mom is smiling.

The hallmark of my books is the relationships that define women's lives.

Memories are who we are. In the end, that's all the luggage you take with you. Love and Memories are what last.

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