The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

I was really excited to receive The Girls from Ames as a Christmas gift. I had seen it mentioned in magazines and on the internet and wanted to read it, and it was especially fitting to receive it from a girlfriend since it is the true story of a group of friends from Ames, Iowa.

The book made me really happy to have a group of close girlfriends. It tells you all about the different benefits that women who maintain close friendships with other women throughout their lives enjoy, including a longer life span. Part of this particular group of women has been friends since elementary school, but the group was complete by high school, and they've stayed friends into their forties. Reading this book, you learn about the role that the group has played for each individual member throughout their life, supporting them through unimaginable hardship some of them have endured. It's heartwarming and inspirational - it reinforced for me just how imperative it's going to be throughout my life to make sure the women who are important to me know how important they are.

Read it, and pass it along to a girlfriend (or guy friend? I guess I shouldn't exclude them, although the book does state that the occurrence of this kind of lifetime friendship among men is much more rare than among women) when you're done. Pick up the phone and remind your friends how much you love them. To my friends - I love you guys and I can't wait until we're in our 40s and we can have a book written about us and how we've always been there for each other.