“Life-change list Number Five: Don’t forget the care and feeding of friends.”

“I didn’t know how good change could feel. I just worried about the risks, not the rewards.”

“Well, it does make you realize that life, even at its longest, is still very short.”

“My life is up to me to define. I needed to make my own dreams come true.”

“It’s really a whole new feeling when you realize you’re in charge of your life, your thoughts, and your actions—or inaction.”

“I'd learned balance is internal; that there really wasn’t one set formula for how to live your life nor how to handle the wife-mother-businesswoman juggling act. Maybe it was just being tuned in to every role and knowing when one or the other needed to be the focus.”

“I marveled about our collective ability as women to keep all the pain hidden, just below the surface.”