Mother’s Day is coming. 5 Minutes for Books managing editor Jennifer Donovan is here to share a new book from Hachette, as well as a $100 gift card giveaway to treat the special woman in your life!
If I could write a book, I’d write a book about friendship. I believe friendship doesn’t just happen; it’s an acquired skill. And like many things in life, we learn by watching our mothers and grandmothers.
Both my mom and my grandmother maintained healthy friendships. I don’t remember us ever having a discussion along the lines of “friendships are important, and this is what you do to build and maintain them,” but that said, I vividly remember tooling around with my grandmother and her friends when my sister and I would spend the summer traveling with their trailer club. She taught me that living life is more fun with friends by your side.
I remember the way my mom encouraged my own friendships by including my friends at birthday dinners or even on summer trips. After she and my step-dad had been empty nesters for several years, they joined a Harley club and quickly had a close new group of friends. I learned that it’s never to late to expand your circle of friends. I guess I saw that from my grandmother as well, as the trailer club was one they joined in retirement.
My own friendships have changed over the years, from school friends, to living life with friends at college, to work colleagues, young married couples, neighborhood mom mentors, survive-the-preschool-years companions, which then morphed into each stage of my children’s lives. I still lean on my friends for help navigating my children, but my friendships are changing. They aren’t all built around my children’s ages and stages. Or even if they do have children the same age, that topic doesn’t always come up.
The people who I call friend now are those with whom I can laugh or cry, play, work, those who help me live and enjoy life more fully.
Life is definitely better with friends, and I’m so glad that Mom and Mimi taught me that by their example.
Kelley Paul has written a new book, True and Constant Friends: Love and Inspiration from Our Grandmothers, Mothers, and Friends, perfect to share with your mom or a close friend.
When Kelley Paul arrived on the Rhodes College campus in 1981, she immediately bonded with six women. Three decades of intimate friendship later, Kelley celebrates these relationships and the women who inspired them all. She tells their stories and those of their grandmothers, mothers and sisters, providing a microcosm of women raising families and building lives in 20th- and 21st-Century America. The extraordinary lives of Kelley’s and her friends’ role models — from the Southern matriarch to the poor Irish immigrant — are honored in this lovely book which offers oral history along with classic poetry, art, and photography. Throughout, Kelley explores the universal themes of hardship, determination, commitment, family, independence, optimism, friendship and love — and illuminates the power of the female bond that enriches all our lives.
Enter to win the book and $100 Visa Gift Card
Three of you will win autographed copies of True and Constant Friends, as well as a $100 Visa Gift Card to treat the special woman in your life!
Find out more about the book and like it on Facebook.
you have to be a friend to have friends
My mom would probably consider me her best friend
My mom’s best friend is my dad! They have been together since they were 13!
My Mom’s best friend is her sister. They talk every day.
my moms best friend was her sister.,
Their sisters are their best friends
Mom’s best friend was her sister Fran
My mom’s best friend was her cousin.
My moms best friend is mary
My mom’s best friend her whole life was her first cousin, who I’m named after.
My mom’s best friend is her older sister – they do a lot of things together and have supported each other through the years.
My Mom was best friends with a woman she worked with…she still is today.
I am actually my moms best friend
My grandma’s best friend was her cousin. Her cousin was a year older than gram and gram would cry when her cousin went to school so they sent her with her! Gram was the youngest in her class. My grandma died 3 years ago but her cousin is still living, a ripe old 97!
I was not raised by mine so I have no idea who her friends were. thank you
My grandmas best friend was my Aunt Agnes
My mom’s best friend from her childhood was a woman named Barbara, who lived across the street from her when she was growing up. They lost touch for many years and then when my mom was about 70, they reconnected and immediately became close again. As my mom slipped deeper and deeper into Alzheimer’s dementia, she started to confuse me with Barbara. One Easter, my mom and I spent the day at my house gardening and she called me Barbara the entire day. It was disturbing at first to think that she’d forgotten I was her daughter but then I started to realize that she thought of me as her oldest friend. That wasn’t a bad trade-off.
Her best friend was her mother.
My moms best friend is her sister.
Who was your mom or grandmother’s best friend? I really have not idea who their best friend was.
My grandmother had a best friend that she grew up with and when they moved across the country from each other, they wrote to each other every week for 60 years.
My moms best friend was my Aunt Sandra. Unfortunately she was killed in a car accident.
My moms best friend is me.
My mom’s best friend was a lady from her church, the two were inseparable as I was growing up and a friend of the family for many years.
Mom had 2 best friends, one from her childhood, with whom she stayed in touch long distance, and the next door neighbor, Lorraine.
My mom’s best friend was someone she lived upstairs from.
My grandmother’s best friend was a fellow German immigrant. They got to know each other after they arrived in the U.S.
My momma and I are best friends! I know she has others, but I talk to her more than anyone (several times daily and by phone – rare these days to be on the phone with people instead of texting) and we live two hours away from each other!
My mom’s best friend is her sister, Lois. My Grandmom always talks about Annie. She lived on a farm isolated from others but on Sundays her mother would cook for the locals. She got to play all day with Annie. I love hearing the little adventures they went on.
I have no recollection of my mother having friends.
my mom’s best friend is her early hospital work buddy…she helped bring all her children into the world as her anethesist!😊 and grandma’s is her daughter-in-law and niece, all three are ‘besties’, they do everything together and are too cute!👵ðŸ‘
My moms best friendis kimand my grandmothers was always my grandpa
My mom and my grandma were best friends! They were like two peas in a pod. 🙂
My moms bff is Diane
My mom’s best friend was my dad. She always told me to have a long happy marriage to make sure your spouse is your best friend.
My mom’s best friend was a girl she went to high school with.
My mother’s best friend is Pat
My mom’s best friend is still her college roommate!
I hardly knew my grandmothers, so I can’t say about them, and I don’t think my mother had a best friend.
My mom’s best friend was her sister. They were always so close.
My mother’s best friend was the lady my sister and I called ‘Aunt Peggy’.
Thanks for the contest.
Her identical twin sister.
My Mom’s best friend is Bambi.
Her best friend was and is her own sister.
My moms best friend? I don’t think she has one anymore after her co-worker passed, it used to be Judy.
My moms best friend’s name was Betty Lester! She took us kids to meet her family later in life. Thanks and God bless!
My Mom’s best friend growing up was Faith, her best friends now are myself and my sister.
Doris, a lady that used to watch my sister and I for years was my mothers best friend. We all did everything together!
My moms best friend has been her best friend for over 30 years. She is like my other mother and they make a perfect pair of friends!
My mom’s best friends were three amazing women who she’s still close with to this very day.
My Mom’s best friend was actually a set of twins, named May and Fay that she knew and loved from high school!
My mom’s best friend was her sister Anne. They were only 10 months apart.
My mother’s best friend is her sister.
My mom’s best friend was me!
Their mother’s,sisters and daughters
My mom’s best friend was Georgia, a lady she worked with. Georgia was like an aunt to me. She went everytwhere with us – movies, shopping, vacation. We all had a lot of fun.
My dad was my mom’s best friend until his death 5 years ago. She now has a special friend that she considers a very good friend.
My mom’s best friend was Nancy. They still keep in touch.
Mom’s best friend was her sister Flora. When her sister died her best friend was a lady from church
We would walk in the park near our house.
My Mom’s best friend was her sister. They could finish each others sentences. They are very much missed.
My grandmother
My grandmother’s best friend was a woman named Vi whom she met at her first job. They stayed friends until the day my grandmother passed….and even after 🙂
My mothers best friend was a nice lady by the name of Della.
my mom’s best friend was her sister sam.
I think I was my mother’s best friend….we were the only two women in a family of 8. I know that she was MY best friend and I still miss her terribly.
My mom’s best friend is MaryAnn
My moms best friend was named Mae and she has passed away.
My grandmothers best friend was my mom , and my mom’s best friend is me 🙂
My mom’s best friend was a co-worker named Linda
My mom’s best friend is Maria
my mom’s best friend is Janet Leazer they talk every day!
My Moms best friend was her sister Kay.
My Mom’s best friend is another lady in their small town. Not sure how they met but they have been best friends since I can remember and have always been there for each other through the fun times and the difficult.
Moms best friend was herself
MY MOM’S BEST FRIEND WAS HER NEIGHBOR WHOSE NAME WAS SUE
My grandmother’s best friend was Rebecca, she called her Becca.
I want to see the new Avengers movie
My mom’s best friend since childhood was a lovely lady named Diana. They had so many amazing and hilarious adventures!
My mom’s best friend was Nancy
My mom’s best friend was me and my sister!
My mom’s best friend was a lady named Ingrid…She has just come from Germany, and had married my Dad’s best friend. They stayed friends for many years, but lost touch after my parents divorce
my moms best friend is named marsha.
My moms best friend was her sister Edith.
My mom’s best friend was Gay Lynn (I don’t recall her last name) and they were friends for many years. I believe she has passed away now, but they were friends for at least 40 years.
My mom’s best friend was her Aunt Rose.
There were three friends in my Moms life that we kids called Auntie, tho they weren’t really our aunts. They were BFFs for over 60 years.
I like to believe that I was also one of her BFFs because we were very close after I grew up…lol
She is a beautiful lady who has a heart of gold. Always soft spoken and takes care of her mother. It’s very sweet.
My moms best friend was Pammy. I even had a doll named after her growing up.
I think my mother & grandmother’s best friends were each other!
My mom’s best friend is her twin sister.
My grandma’s best friend is a childhood friend that still lives in Germany.
My mother’s best friend was a rather wild n’ crazy woman name Lee, her opposite in so many ways.
Everyone in my mom’s life thought they were her best friend – including me. At her funeral everyone kept saying they had talked to her the day she died and how much she meant to them. I don’t know how she made everyone feel so valuable but it is something I strive to do in my life.
My Dad was my Mom’s best friend.
My mom’s best friend is someone she met in grade school, then married her uncle, they stayed close to this day.
My mom’s best friend was her sister June. They were inseparable.
I don’t have a clue who my mom or grandma’s best friends were. My mom died when I was young and my grandma before I was born.
My grandmother’s best friend was her true love, my grandpa.
My mom’s best friend is the neighbor lady. They’re still neighbors in their separate apartments.
go see Mad Max: Fury Road
My mom’s best friend was a neighbor and high school classmate.
My mom had a friend name Lulu she met when they were waitresses years ago and they are still friends today
My mom met her best friend in college.
her coworker
My mother’s best friend was my Aunt Margaret (her sister-in-law). They were friends for many years until my mother passed away.
My mom’s best friend was name Shawn and she passed away sadly when I was young. She was a wonderful person though.
My moms best friend was her sister.
My Mom’s best friend was our neighbor and her name is Cathy.
My mom’s best friends are her college roommates.
My mother’s best friend is her sister. They are always doing things together.
My mom’s best friend was and is her sister
MY Mom’s best friend would have to be one of her sisters. I don’t know which
I was the best friend!
my mom’s best friend growing up was a woman named Carol who was born on Christmas. She always talked about her “Christmas Carol.” But now it’s her mother.
My mom’s had the same best friend for the last 40 years. I call her my Aunt, they now live about a block away from each other. She actually married my Dad’s best friend ten years ago (after they’d both been through their share of divorce).
My mother’s best friend is her sister.
Honestly, my mom raised so many children that I think WE were her best friends.
My mom’s BFF is her sister, Claire. Thanks.
My moms best friend is someone she has worked with for 25 years named Pam.
My mom’s best friends were her sisters. They have always been there for each other through good and bad times.
I think my dad was my moms best friend
I think her grandmother and later her aunt were her best friends.
As far as I know, my mother never had a best friend; at least she never spoke of one. Thanks for the giveaway!
My mom had a lot of friends when she was younger. I dont think she has any best friends now.
My mom’s best friend was Ethel.
My mom’s best friend was/is actually my childhood best friend’s mom – they were inseparable then and remain so even now.
My mom’s best friend was her mom and when her mom passed her sister became her new bestie.
My mom’s best friend is someone she went to college with.
I was my moms best friend till she died.
I was my mothers best friend.
My mom’s best friend was my best friends’ mom.
My mom’s best friend was me. She told me all the time.
Her best friend is Denish a lady she’s known for 40 years and they get together every Saturday for coffee and to gossip
My grandma’s best friend was Phyllis who passed away a few years before my grandma.
My mom best friend was her mom my grandma.
My mom’s best friend was her sister Dorothy. They were very close all their lives. When my mom died of cancer, my Aunt Dorothy took it very hard. Shortly after, she developed Alzheimer’s and the only thing she remembered was all the time she spent with my mom. She died this year so I like to think they’re together again somewhere.
My Mom’s best friend was Rosemarie. They started school together when they were 5 and were best friends thru the years, across several continents and several marriages, until my Mom died last year at 90. Now, I call Rosemarie every day. We’ve helped each other thru an awful lot and I am very honored to call her a friend and ‘pseudo-Mom’.
My family is pretty strange in that they don’t really tend to form a lot of friendships… my mother probably had a best friend when she was younger, but I have no idea who it would have been.
My mom’s best friend was an old neighbor.
Who was your mom or grandmother’s best friend?
me…im just sayin
My mom’s best friend was a lady she worked with. After they both retired they’ve remained friends.
My moms best friend was Janet. Some of my best memories are of them two together. They were always laughing! I’m smiling thinking about it. Unfortunately they both passed young. I miss them and their laughter. Love you guys!
My mom’s best friend is my aunt!
My mom’s best friend has known her since elementary school.
My mom’s best friend is a woman named Pam. They are both bus drivers for the special needs children in their school district.
@AmandaGeaney
My mom’s best friend was someone she met in school. Her name was Carla.
My mom’s best friend is named Donna. But unfortunately she just moved to a different state about a year ago. It’s sad seeing my mom upset and missing her friend!
My Nana’s best friend was a lady her age, Wilma, who lived next door.
& my mom’s best friend is me. She works 50+ hours a week, and doesn’t really have time for a best friend. She’ll tell you that too, sadly. But I still live at home, so I try to keep her sane!
Thank you for this opportunity!
my mom’s best friend was her brother Frank, they were always there to support each other in raising their families
This would bring great joy to my heart, if I won
My mom’s best friend is my dad. They have been married best friends for 57 years!
My mother’s best friend was Olga. They were best friends from high school until Olga’s death @ age 64. Olga was like a 2nd mother to me and I often liked her much better than my own mother.
My mothers best friend was my Aunt Mary Ann
No clue. Sorry…but yeah, no clue.
See the Longest Ride 🙂
years ago, my mother was a dancer and her best friend was another dancer, Candy
Her best friend was nature and the animals and birds! Her husband passed away when he was 60 from a sudden heart attack. She lived on her own in a lake cabin for a long time. She lived to age 96! Loved helping animals and birds and always took in anything wounded to try to nurse back to health!
My Mom’s best friend was her sister. They talked on the phone a lot and dearly loved each other.
My Mom’s best friend was my Dad
Her sister!
My Mom’s best friend was me.
My mom’s best friend is my dad. 🙂
My mom’s cousin was her best friend
My mom’s best friend was her sister.
My grandmother’s best friend was my grandfather.They were inseperable.
I was an orphan, foster homes, no mother, grandmother. So, don’t know.
My mom’s best friend when she was growing up was the daughter of a pastor. They would sing in the choir together.
My Granny’s best friend was her husband. My Papa, They did everything together and lived happily.
My mother’s best friend was a sweet chinese woman named Shalu. She would make homemade chinese food from scratch. It was AMAZINGLY delicious!!
My mother’s best friend is her older sister.
My mom’s best friend was our next door neighbor.
I am my mother’s best friend. Now that she is elderly I am her caregiver, but when she was young we did everything together. My mother has always lived with my husband and four kids. She was a second mother to our children. I don’t have a sister and either does my mother so we became best friends.
I really have no idea who my mom or grandmas best friends were. I don’t think they ever said. I need to ask around.
My mother’s best friend is someone she has known since grade school and they are now in their 80’s.
my mothers best friend is my aunt renee ( not really my aunt but close enough ) and my grandmothers best friend was my grandfather by far
My Mom’s best friend was her sister Patricia.
My Moms best friend is named Kathy they have been friends since I was a kindergartner!
I really don’t know for sure. I guess it must have been Vicki.
she has a lot of friends but no bestie
My mom’s best friend is my aunt, who lived with us. It was amazing seeing their relationship growing up.
My mom’s bff is her sister, one year apart and still am. Happy Mother’s Day y’all.
My moms best friend is named Barbara…she met my mom in high school and was like my second mom…she was there for her through thick and thin and as my mom was dying, was there for her every step of the way. My mom passed away 29 years ago and she is still devastated by her death as we all still are
My mother’s best friend is her sister.
My mom’s best friend is her sister.
Mom’s friend since grade school.
My mom’s best friend is a friend she’s known since she was in elementary school.
My grandmother’s best friend was a wonderful woman named Ruby. They grew up together and remained best friends until my grandmother passed almost 30 years ago. Ruby passed 3 years ago. They were both amazing women and I loved being around them when they were together. They had so much fun!
My grandmother’s best friend was her sister in law Grace.
My Mom had a lot of best friends but her best was probably a woman she met at work.
Mom’s best friend; her sister.
My Grandmother best friend was her daughters,my aunts. And my Moms best friend is me , her daughter and caregiver!
My Grandmas best friend was Lusella and they were partners in crime.
Inge, who became my godmother
My mom’s best friend was our neighbor of 20 years & I’m still best friends with her daughter!!!
My Moms best friend was Sue, sadly she has passed but I remember spending a lot of time at her house doing fun crafts as a kid.
My mom was best friends with her mom, and now she’s my best friend, as my daughters are my best friends.
My mom’s best friends when I was a kid was JoAnne
My mom’s best friend is Ann
My mom’s best friend was a woman she met at her church named Lola
My mom had a best friend, Barbara, that she met when they were both young working girls in the 1940’s. They were friends until Barbara’s death in the early 80’s.
My mother’s best friend is a lawyer who worked with her at the department of transportation. I love this woman because she actually gets my mother to relax! 😀
eachother
My mom’s best friend was her mom. thank you!!
My mother’s best friend was a childhood neighbor of hers. She still keeps in touch via Facebook.
My grandma was always my best friend.
No matter what she was doing she always had time for me.
thank you
My moms best friend was Doe
My mom’s best friend is her childhood school mate!
My Mom’s best friend was Joanne.
My grandma’s best friend was Doreen.
My mom is definitely my best friend, and we have only gotten closer and closer.
My Mom’s bestfriend is her sister!
My mom’s best friend is her sister
My mother’s best friend was her neighbor.
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My mom’s best friend was a friend who then married my uncle.
Well, actually, they were friends WAY before Lea met my uncle. They had been friends in high school, and then as they worked for the same company for 20 years.
my grandmother was my mom’s best friend
My mom was best friends with our neighbor when we were little and when we moved, she was best friends with the mom in a family we were all friends with.
My mother’s best friend was her sister.
My mom’s best friend is someone she met in high school, who she made my godmother.
My moms best friend is her sisters.
my mom’s best friend was a woman named Sandra, they used to have lots of good times together even though for many years Sandra was ill.
My moms best friend was her sister. They only had each other and had to rely on one other their entire lives.
I am my Mom’s best friend, and she is mine.
My mothers best friend was her boss! They’ve been friends for over 25 years now, they taught me the importance of supporting one another and how special it is to have a shoulder to cry on but to also have someone to push you for betterment.
the only person i can remember my mom calling her best friend, had died many years before. my mom was confined to the house mostly and family was all that was around.
My Moms best friend is me.
kport207 at gmail dot com
My moms best friend was a military wife from long ago!
My Mother’s closest friend was her sister and own Mother.
My Mom’s best friend was a lady named Linda. In fact, even in my Mom’s late 60’s, she is still friends with her and has lunch with her.
My mom’s long time best friend is Bunny.
My mom’s best friend was a friend from high school.
i am my moms best friend
I remember call my mom’ best friend auntie Cynthia. They met in college, freshman year
Someone she met through church.
My mom’s best friend was our neighbor that we lived next door to for years.
My mom and my grandmother were best friends before my grandmother died. I try to be there for my mom as much as I can now that she isn’t around.
My mom’s best friend is a woman from church
Who was your mom or grandmother’s best friend? My mom’s had so many friends while I was growing up – I particularly remember Phyllis…they moved about 15 years ago and now her best friend is Teri.
My mom’s best friend was a neighbor of ours.
My moms best friend was a former neighbor of hers
My mom’s best friend was a lady that lived across the street from us for years.
My mom’s best friend is her sister!
Besides my father, my Moms best friend was her sister Francis.
I wasn’t that close to my grandma (grandma on dad’s side died before I was born) and I don’t remember my mom having a best friend other than my dad
Me and my mom are best friends! Love her!! I talk to her every single day.
my moms best friend is Kim, they met in high school.
y mother’s best friend was one of my Aunts who has passed away.
My moms best friend is Judie and they met in nursing school.
My mom’s best friend was Edith
My mother had a best friend named Karen for many years. They’d go out to eat often. They haven’t seen each other in a while though. Thanks.
partymix25(at)Hotmail(dot)com
My mom’s best friend is someone she met in junior high…and they’ve been friends all these years!
My mom’s best friend is my Godmother and they’ve bff’s for more than 30 years.
New Avengers
I would love to take my mom to see The Longest Ride or Hot Pursuit!
I would love to go and see the The Longest Ride.
I would have to go see the new Avengers: Age Of Ultron movie.
I still really want to see fast and furious !:)
been dying to see that one! just need a babysitter
I would go see the Avengers
I would like to see The Longest Ride.
I would go see Mad Max: Fury Road when it opens 🙂
I would see The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
I would go to Hot Pursuit or the new Avengers movie.
I would go see The Longest Ride