Friday, October 25, 2024

The Mystery of Lifelong Friends

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: This is such a tender subject.  And if you’ve never thought about it, it means you have lifelong friends. And I mean–lifelong, not just dear and relied on, or not just necessary for your very existence, or beloved, or remarkable. I mean: Lifelong.


And this is something the amazingly talented and truly wonderful Jessica Strawser–a dear and relied-on and beloved and remarkable friend, necessary for my very existence–and I have in common. See if you do, too.



The Mystery of Lifelong Friends

by Jessica Strawser

 

When I was a kid, my family relocated several times, zigzagging Pennsylvania as my dad navigated job transfers from one corporate region to another. At the time, I hated moving—so much, in fact, that any time my parents said we needed to talk, their faces serious, I’d cross my arms and demand to know right then: “We’re not moving again, are we?”

 

(The next time we moved, they actually broke the news by saying, “Um … it’s about that thing you’re always worried it’s about.” Oh, the surge of dread.)

 

Of course, I came to understand this upbringing had its upsides. It builds character to hold your head high and walk into a school where you don’t know a soul, to learn to make new friends quickly, and even to spend summer days curled up with a good book because you haven’t met the neighbors yet. It helped me grow into a person who wasn’t afraid to go after what I wanted, even when it meant striking out on my own to get it.

 

There was one big thing I missed out on, though.

 

I never kept a childhood friend close. I have wonderful friends I’ve known since high school or college, people I’ve stayed in touch with for decades … but not a single lifelong friend.

 

You know the kind I mean: The kind you bond with in kindergarten when you discover you have matching lunchboxes, and grow with through the awkward years of adolescence, sharing all the big firsts: first kiss, first heartbreak, first time away from home, first job, first love …

 

The kind who will stand next to you at weddings and baby showers and funerals and your own kids’ graduation parties, trading inside jokes about old bad haircuts no one else remembers anymore, and who will always, always be able to say she knew you way back when, at virtually every age.

 

So many of us are drawn to stories of that kind of friendship, and they’re some of my own favorites: I’ve cried over Beaches and Firefly Lane with the best of them. But for me, I think those kinds of characters have always held a bit of mystery, too.

 

What would it really be like, to have a friend who shares so much of your history?

 

 A friend who knows your secret hopes and dreams as well as her own … but might not share the same ones for herself (or even for you)?

 

When we say a friend is like a sister or a brother, do we really mean it? Or will there always be a difference? Will a friend always be, by definition, someone that—as circumstances change—one of you might walk away from, lose touch with, or otherwise leave behind?

 

Some people say to write what you know. I say to write what you wish you knew.

 


So maybe it was inevitable that I’d come to write my own story of lifelong best friends… and wrap them in a mystery. My seventh novel, Catch You Later, focuses on two women stuck in their dead-end Midwestern town who would do anything for each other—but who want very different things out of life.

 

Lark and Mikki work night shift at the interstate travel stop and make up their own rules for making the best of things in the middle of nowhere: 1) Say yes as much as possible, and 2) Keep your eyes open for a ride out. So when a stranger drops in heading to a destination beach wedding and spontaneously invites Mikki to be his plus one, it’s no real surprise to Lark when Mikki takes off her apron and gets in his car right then … that is, until she fails to return. And Lark’s worst, loneliest nightmare begins.

 

Eight years later, Lark is finally getting her life back together for the sake of her young daughter and Mikki’s lovably prickly grandma, who can no longer care for herself. But when the stranger who drove off with Mikki reappears looking for her, nobody knows what to believe—Lark most of all.

 

Structuring this book meant weaving together two very different best friends’ points of view across the miles and over the years: Readers get to ride along with Mikki as she gets in the car that fateful night, then flash forward to Lark searching for her in the aftermath. Many early readers have said that as much as they enjoyed unraveling the cold case of what really happened to Mikki, they loved feeling a part of their lifelong friendship more.

 

I dare say that when I came to writing it, I agree.

 

JESS and HANK : What about you, Reds and readers?  Do you have a favorite “best friends” story, whether a book, a movie, or from your own life? We’d love to hear about it. 



 


Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest and the USA Today bestselling author of seven popular book club novels, including Almost Missed You; Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month pick); A Million Reasons Why; The Next Thing You Know (a People Magazine Pick), The Last Caretaker (an Amazon Editors First Reads selection), and Catch You Later, new October 22, 2024. She lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2024. Find her on Instagram and Facebook @jessicastrawserauthor.

 




MORE ABOUT CATCH YOU LATER

 

One impulsive decision changes the lives of two best friends forever in a powerful novel of suspense by the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Caretaker.

If Lark and Mikki didn’t have each other, they’d have nothing in this miserable town. So the best friends stick together, working night shift at the highway travel stop, going nowhere fast. Until a stranger drops in, heading for Florida, and Mikki impulsively leaves with him, never to be seen again.

 

Eight years later, Lark is finally getting her life back together for the sake of her young daughter and Mikki’s lovably prickly grandma, who can no longer care for herself. People have almost stopped blaming Lark for Mikki’s disappearance, and she’s engaged to the nicest guy on highway patrol. But when the stranger who drove off with Mikki reappears looking for her, nobody knows what to believe.

 

As the search reignites, Lark fights to find out whether Mikki is really missing or doesn’t want to be found. But piecing together the chain of events set into motion that fateful night could threaten everything—and everyone—Lark has left.

 

“Strawser increases tension by telling both stories propulsively, leading readers hanging from one chapter to the next…Readers will flock to this fresh take on the missing-girl trope.” Booklist (starred review)

98 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Jessica, on your newest book . . . it sounds so intriguing; I'm looking forward to meeting Lark and Mikki . . . .

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    1. Oh, thank you, Joan! I hope you'll enjoy traveling with them as much as I did.

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  2. Congratulations! What a great premise.

    My best friend from elementary school days and I grew apart in junior high school. My brother is still friends with her brother, but I haven't seen her in many decades. My bestie since ninth grade and I are still in touch, though, and when we (rarely) get together it's like no time has passed.

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    1. Thank you, Edith! I think childhood friends often grow apart even if they stay in the same place, which is what makes the idea of a lifelong friend so extra special and rare. I saw a segment on The Today Show this week where a woman found an old home video of herself as a kid, saying she was going to marry a certain boy she was friends with in her class. She was watching the video with her fiance, who happened to be that boy, all grown up! She'd moved away and not seen him for a few decades and then reconnected when she moved back.

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    2. Oh, what an amazing story! And of course, what kinds of photos exist depend on your generation...

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    3. Oh, exactly, Hank! My family never owned a camcorder when I was a kid, so we have little to no video. Now we all carry it at our fingertips, but sometimes we aren't good about passing these things down so that anyone else can digitally access them. I think about this a lot!

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  3. JESSICA: Reading the summary of CATCH YOU LATER sent shivers down my spine. So many unanswered questions about what happened to Mikki. And how Lane's life has been affected by the loss of her bestie.
    I definitely want to know what happens!

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    1. That is lovely to hear, Grace, thanks for saying so! I had a ton of fun writing this book and hope you will enjoy reading it too.

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    2. Jess, did you know the ending when you started?

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    3. I knew the ending but not how to get there. The challenge turned out to be in conveying the strength and depth of the friendship between this two women, because they were not together for 95% of the book!

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  4. Wow, Jessica, what a premise! I think that missing people cases are the saddest. Not knowing is a unique kind of torture.
    I do have a best friend from high school. We graduated in 1965. She lives about two hours away and my son and her daughter grew up together as best friends, too. They are still very close and live about an hour from one another. My friend and I have seen little of one another since the pandemic but we spoke to one another on Monday. I do love when long friendships are featured in stories.

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    1. My sons grew up with my best friend's daughter, and they are all still very close as adults - and now have children who will be friends, too! Jennifer and I met in grad school in our late twenties and are still besties.

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    2. I love those friendships across generations! My mom's old college roommates used to get together every year and tote us kids along. We all share a sort of bond now all these years later, even though we never even lived in the same place.

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    3. Thinking now--I don't have any friends from childhood, as I said--but this reminds me that my mother didn't either. i wonder if that's significant, or a coincidence.

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    4. All I know is this, Hank: Now that you've met me, you're stuck with me!

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  5. Welcome Jessica! We moved a number of times too--so hard! I'm very lucky that my best lifelong friend is my own sister, who of course moved along with me.

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    1. Oh, I love this, Lucy! My brother is 6 years younger than me so even in his very first memories I'm probably already 9 or 10 years old. So lovely to call a sister a best friend too.

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    2. My sister Nancy--10 years younger!--and I are still very close. I try not to boss her around anymore...

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    3. I am very close to several of my cousins, both male and female. Our parents were siblings, separated by up to 16 years, and the cousin spread is even broader, 20 years. We grew up spending holidays and summers together. It is a very special bond. I am also close to my stepsister whom I met when I was 20 years old.

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    4. Judy, it sounds like you are blessed with a wonderful blended family! How wonderful.

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  6. The book sounds great, Jessica! The friendship thing is a little different for me, because I'm an identical twin. I had a built-in life long friend (I call her my former womb-mate). We had some friends who were more "my" friend and more "her" friend over the years and some who were (are) close to both of us, but the bond between the two of us really is closer than any other.

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    1. I'm endlessly fascinated by identical twins--thank you for chiming in! Do you and your sister have that special sixth sense some twins talk about, where you sometimes feel as if you share a brain even when you're not together? How lucky you are to have each other.

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  7. Congratulations, Jessica! Sure sounds like a book I'd like to read. There is a person I've known since first grade. We wound up going to the same college and we live in the same town. When my children were little I also took care of his son. But I wouldn't call us best friends, at least not the kind you can pour your heart out to. There have been people like that throughout my life, but none of them have been lifelong.

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    1. Isn't it funny that having a person around a lot does not a friendship make? I've definitely noticed this a lot with my own kids (who are 10 and 13 now) where they will run in the same circles as certain neighbors or classmates or teammates for years, but for whatever reason just never have the spark of a genuine bond. Great point!

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    2. That genuine spark--exactly. I have pals I've known for years, but if I were upset about something, I would not call them.

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  8. I have a best friend from sixth grade. I was new to town and shy. She was too. We were in the same class with a dragon for a teacher. We bonded over The Secret Garden, which the dragon would read after lunch. We walked home in the same direction and finally started speaking to each other. We haven't stopped speaking -- it's been 65 years.

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  9. Jessica, your book sounds great!! Congratulations.

    I had a childhood similar to yours, except it was Ohio we zigzagged through, roughly following the interstate highways (which my dad was helping to build). He died suddenly when I was 13, and my mother and I stayed on in Columbus, where we were then living. So I did not have the trauma of high school moves. But when I entered 9th grade it was my tenth school. I am still in touch with my high school best friend and cherish the friendship, though we have lived in different parts of the country for most of our adult lives. We don't even reliably talk once a year any more, though we're never completely out of touch either. That's as close to a lifelong friend as I have.

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    1. Oh, what a story, Susan! Thank you so much for sharing this. (And I'm sorry about the loss of your father so young.) Do you still have Ohio ties? I write from Cincinnati. These particular characters are off a remote exit between Dayton and Toledo, on I-75. I interviewed a state trooper who was very helpful to the story.

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    2. Jessica, I've driven that stretch of I-75 many times. I can just imagine these two young women wanting to get out, to get away, to dream of somewhere--anywhere--different.

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    3. Exactly, Flora! If you know, you know. There's such a huge contrast between the two settings in this book, with one friend setting off into the unknown and the other left behind. I love how the cover designer managed to convey how the story turned their worlds upside down. (If you literally turn the cover upside down, it becomes the tropical Florida setting in the foreground and the Midwestern highway left behind.)

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    4. Jessica, yes, I am still in Ohio. (Spent most of my life here.) I am currently living in Powell, a Delaware County suburb of Columbus. My husband grew up in Northwest Ohio, by a remote exit from the Ohio Turnpike, so I can easily envision the motivation of Mikki to get in that car!

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    5. I love that this is so familiar to you!

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    6. *waving across the state in your direction, Susan!* All 7 of my novels are set at least partially in Ohio. I love grounding at least part of a story in a place that I know so well and that feels like home.

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  10. Hi, Jessica! Fellow Cincinnatian here, who sadly had to miss your Joseph-Beth signing.

    I grew up in Hamilton, down the road, and we never stayed in one house very long, five years was the record. So I bounced from one Catholic school to another, with different besties in each time period. My best friend in grades 1-3, another Karen, was at our 55th high school reunion recently, and we got a photo together to show my mom. They worked together before Mother retired, so Karen and I reconnected a bit every once in awhile. We bonded for two reasons as children: we rode the bus to and from the same stop, and we were the shortest in our class. By graduation I was, and still am, a head taller!

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    1. What a great story, Karen, thanks for sharing! I always love connecting with local readers, even if only online. :) Do you have Books by the Banks on your radar for next month? I'll be there—please be sure to come by my table and say hi if you go!

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    2. Yes, and I usually go. I think we have met in person there, at least once, Jessica. Did you ever sit next to Duffy Brown, or maybe Valerie Burns?

      Mary Kay Carson is a really good friend, and I usually go to her table and pick up her latest science book for kids in my family as Christmas gifts. I'm also planning to volunteer this year, if they still need help when my schedule clears up this next week.

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    3. Oh, wonderful, Karen! Thank you so much for volunteering -- the event wouldn't be possible without so many generous souls like you lending your time. (I'm not sure I've ever been a table mate of Duffy or Valerie, but my kids love Mary Kay Carson's books!)

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  11. Congratulations Jessica! It looks like a fascinating read - looking forward to checking it out!

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    1. Very kind of you, Jane. Thanks for taking the time to say so!

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    2. Welcome, Jane! so great that you are here today!

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  12. Jessica, I am new to your work but look forward to checking out your latest book. My bestie from high school stayed a dear friend until 2016 when politics entered the picture. It was sad to be unfriended by a long-time friend but enlightening at the same time. I have a very dear friend who has been a bestie for nearly 40 years. Wouldn't trade her for the world. We message frequently and try to talk every week.

    I was thinking as I read about you moving so many times about what a friend of mine said about always moving. His dad was a pastor, so they moved frequently. He learned to use those moves as an opportunity to reinvent himself, shedding those traits that no longer served him and adding new dimensions for this iteration of himself. He is now an actor and uses those same skills to embrace each role he is given. -- Victoria

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    1. That's a great idea for book , too--the reinvention. Hmmm. Thank you--snapping that one right up.

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    2. Victoria, that's such a lovely sentiment about reinvention. Thank you for sharing that! I'm so sad to hear stories like this about friends divided by politics, however. I know many of us are eager to put this election behind us and try to move toward less divisive dialogue in our country. Hugs to you!

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    3. Hank, you're welcome! Take it and make it your own.

      Jessica, yes it has been rather disheartening to lose friends over politics. That particular friend has never left our hometown and I often wonder if that can stunt our personal growth. I feel blessed to have moved several times and to experience new ideas, new perspectives and new opportunities. I think it has been good for me. I bet it has been for you, too. -- Victoria

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    4. Absolutely, Victoria. I think the best gift we can give ourselves is to invest in travel and experiences rather than accumulating things.

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    5. The friend thing usually happens only in red states, which are so divided on political lines. Education level seems to be the divisive factor.

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  13. This sounds wonderful, Jessica! It's on my TBR list. I've moved around a bit as well, but I have one friend I've had since first grade. We don't talk as much as we used to, but we get together at least once a year and it's like we were never apart.

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    1. Yes, so incredible when that happens!

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    2. Oh, I love stories like that! Thank you for sharing, Kate. :) And thanks for adding CATCH YOU LATER to your TBR. I hope you enjoy the ride with Lark & Mikki as much as I did!

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  14. Jessica -- I've seen you and this book all over my social media feeds; I am looking forward to reading it! As for lifelong friends, I don't have any. My oldest friend goes back to high school days, making our friendship 50 years old next year: wow! I moved a lot during my growing up years, so a 50-year friendship is a remarkable and wonderful touchstone for me in my life.

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    1. Amanda, it's so good to hear that you've been seeing the book -- as authors, sometimes we truly can't tell if the word is getting out, so I appreciate you saying so. CATCH YOU LATER is one book where I honestly miss the characters now that I'm done writing it, which sounds so woo-woo to say, but it's true. Your childhood sounds similar to mine in the transient respect, but wow: 50 years of friendship is an amazing gift. Maybe friends should celebrate their golden anniversaries the way couples do! You deserve it!

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  15. JESSICA: Welcome to Jungle Reds! Congratulations on your new novel.

    Lifelong friends are precious. I have a lifelong friend. I think some of you who were at Left Coast 2020 in San Diego may have met her. I think Grace met her. This friend and I started school before our 2nd birthdays because we both were diagnosed with severe to profound Deafness. Our mothers are very similar.

    Even though I did "not move a lot", however I went to many different schools because the educational programs for Deaf children were always changing due to budget cuts among other reasons.

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    1. Oh, how wonderful that you got to be together at LCC!

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    2. What a special bond that is, Diana! Truly irreplaceable. Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful friendship story.

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  16. Jess, your launch party looked AMAZING! How did it go? What question did people ask about the book?

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    1. Hank, it was the best. It just fills your heart when people show up for you -- I know you know exactly what I mean. The question I didn't foresee was that someone raised their hand and asked my favorite road trip snack! I rattled off a few but did not answer correctly. So now I'd like to set the record straight: Chocolate-covered pretzels. (What's yours??)

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  17. Loved the blub and the concept so much I raced to Amazon before I commented. My cousin and I are lifelong friends. Not only do we share a heritage, her grandmother raised both of our mothers which meant being brought up by our separate mothers was like being brought up by the same person. It's made for an unbreakable bond.

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    1. You know I love to hear that, Kait, thank you so much! What a wonderful story about you and your cousin. Your grandmother sounds like a very special person to have left such a mark.

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    2. Wow--that is an incredible story! xxx

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  18. That sounds like a great book, Jessica! My closest friends and I don't go farther back than when I was 17--but that's still 50 years. We haven't lived near each other for over 40 years--but I do my best to see them once a year, and I stay grateful for emails and Skype/Zoom!

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    1. Sometimes we all bemoan new technology, but it really has made it so much easier to keep in touch! :) 50 years of friendship sounds like an amazing gift.

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    2. Agreed--Zoom and Skype have changed our lives immeasurably. And we have become so savvy about it!

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  19. I don’t have any friends from childhood. We lived in the kind of neighborhood people kept moving out of. The friend I’ve known the longest, about fifty years, is an old girlfriend of my late brother. We text about once a month, talk on the phone a couple of times a year, and exchange Christmas gifts.We don’t live anywhere near each other. The last time I saw her was at her wedding, and she’s a grandmother now!

    I’ve lived in my current town for forty years, and have a number of friends here that are the best friends a person could ask for! And I have a close friend that I met through an online support group for people who had relatives with a particular mental illness. She started the group. We used to have annual gatherings in different parts of the country, mostly the Midwest. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve seen each other in person, but we text daily. She really does feel like a sister! I’m also close to my sisters and my sister-in-law, and we’re always texting or talking on the phone.
    My favorite set of of fictional best friends can be found in the Betsy-Tacy books, which I first read as a child. I still reread them!

    DebRo

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    1. Oh, thank you so much for sharing this story! I love that you both have been there for each other consistently across the miles. It really is the little things that add up. I recently learned the term "pebbling"--it has a few definitions, but all relate to letting someone know you're thinking of them. It turns out, studies have shown that even texting a friend funny memes that remind you of their sense of humor can be a wonderful way to lift our spirits and stay connected.

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    2. Aww..that is so perfect. What a wonderful solution.

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  20. Congrats on your latest! See you at Books at the Banks?

    My parents made a monumental move from New Jersey to Ohio the weekend before I started high school. The experience was surreal in every way: how my classmates talked, their politics and values, a suburb so in-grown that many of the parents had attended the same high school. Like mother, like daughter, we moved our youngest from Atlanta to Cincinnati during her HS freshman year. And when she left for college, I started writing a mystery about our shared experiences.

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    1. Yes, I'll be at BBTB this year! So glad you will be too. Funny how history repeats itself, isn't it? Sounds like wonderful fodder for your novel.

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    2. Oh, fish out of water--so difficult at the time, so valuable later!

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  21. Despite being a navy - military community where families moved every 2-3 years our neighborhood was particularly strong in keeping in touch and keeping friendships that span 50 + years.
    We moved into the neighborhood when I was 8 and the three other girls around my age stayed in touch growing up. One girl (Patty Logsdon Mullenhauer) was the bond that keep everyone together. She was everyone's BBF. She was an extraordinary person and friend to all her knew her.

    My eldest daughter who lives in Portland, Or has keep in very close touch with all her college best friends. There are about 8-9 of them and they all stayed in Portland after college. Now their children are growing up together and are close friends.

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    1. So many people here speak of friendships that have lasted more than 50 years! I'm starting to think friends should celebrate golden anniversaries, too. Because what a wonderful gift.

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    2. I recently visited a best friend since 7th grade. We were having dinner with her daughter & family, when the daughter asked, “How long have you been friends? “. We looked at each other, eyes widening at the same time - “ummmm for over 60 years!” Whew, we both had to take a moment! Such a delightful thread here. (Heather S)

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    3. Yes, so agree..very thought-provoking! And aw...thank you!

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  22. Me from above ^^
    One other thing, my mother was one who keep friends her whole life. She met her best friend at age 13 at their local church social. They stayed best friends for their entire lives - over 64 years. My mom also stayed in close touch with her high school French teacher. This was a little tricky as they lived a 2 hour drive away. But several times a years they'd meet at a French restaurant to speak French. Her teacher lived to be close to 100.

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    1. Wow! Meeting at a French restaurant to speak French -- that sounds like the basis for a wonderful novel, or maybe a movie!

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  23. What a great topic. I faithfully read Jessica’s columns in the Writer’s Digest magazine until she left to write novels. Now, I read her books. When I was a kid, I wanted to zig zag around the country but we never left my childhood home. The good news I have a lifelong friend, Claudia. While we live on opposite ends of the east coast (because I did move after college graduation, several times), we remain close. Claudia was shy, an artist, and spoke two languages—the opposite of me. We learned from each other and shared laughs as well as life’s ups and downs. I look forward to reading Jessica’s latest novel as friendship stories are powerful.

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    1. Cindy, all the readers who have followed me since my WD days have such a special place in my heart! Thank you so much for chiming in today and sharing your story, and especially for your kindness. How wonderful that you and Claudia never lost touch. It's funny how true it can be that opposites attract!

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  24. Jessica, what a great concept for a novel (just downloaded!,) and what a great topic today!! I do have a lifelong best friend, since we were in third grade, and our birthdays are only five days apart. Neither of us have sisters so we think of ourselves as twins from different mothers:-) We lost touch for a few years in our early married lives but reconnected and have never lost touch again. Even though she lives in a different state we talk nearly every day. It's really special to have someone who's shares your past.

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    1. Oh, I adore this story! This gets right to the heart of it -- and how wonderful that you two found each other. Thank you so much for sharing. (And for downloading the book too!)

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  25. The closest I come to a "lifelong" friend is the woman I've been friends with since 7th grade, when both our current "best friends" decided to dump us and become pals with the other. Jolie and I have been friends ever since and we were...12. We've been through just about everything together - first crush, first kiss, first period, parents dying, we even had cancer together (brain and breast). We can go ages without talking and the minute we start again, it's like we saw each other yesterday. The worst 6 months of my life were after Jolie's father died and her family did a European vacation that her father never would have spent money on. Suddenly, I wasn't "worldly" enough and she hung out with an older girl, but that ended by the beginning of our senior year of high school.

    I am still Facebook friends with a woman I have known since we were 4 and in preschool together, but we're not nearly as close.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to share this, Liz! Funny enough, I also have a very close friend (from early adulthood) that I similarly became friends with because a mutual friend had invited us both out to see a band and then ditched us both at the bar. We had worked in the same building for months but never really talked until that night, and we instantly clicked. Making the best of a bad situation can be a great unifier! And sometimes those friends who dumped us did us a big favor. :)

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  26. Hi, Jessica. Congratulations on your new book, which sounds so intriguing. I know that word "intriguing" is overused, but it does fit your story so well. I grew up in Maysville, Kentucky, which was about an hour away from Cincinnati (going west) and now, because of new road, is more like 45 minutes. My pediatrician was in Cincinnati, and we would shop there, especially at Christmas time when downtown Shillito's had their windows decorated with their elf figures and Christmas story. I bought my wedding dress in Cincinnati, too (48 years ago). My mother found my dress, but it was on another person. She didn't buy it, and my mother asked me to try it on. I begrudgingly did so, because I thought I would know the dress when I say it, and this one was just not speaking to me. However, I loved it when I did try it on. There was a deli shop near Shillito's that my father always had to stop in to buy some cheeses. That man loved his cheese. So, I have a good history with Cincinnati. Of course, we started going to Lexington, Kentucky more after my brother and I both went to college there.

    Now, growing up in a small town was perfect for making lifetime friends. That my brother and all his children and their children plus one of my sister's children and their children still live there is a good reason to visit. But, I must admit, it's my lifetime friends there that spark the fun of a visit. Unfortunately, we've lost two of our closest male friends in the group, and then came Covid, and then came my son's death. So, I haven't gotten to see my dear friends for quite a while now. I did see one friend, who now lives in Tucson (although he and his husband are gone traveling more than being home) a couple of years ago, and it was so wonderful. He was my next-door neighbor, so we've known each other since about three years old. And my gal pals still there are friends I went all the way through high school with, and a few started in kindergarten, which my mother taught. So, yes, having that kind of grounding in your life is a treasure.

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    1. Hi, Kathy! So wonderful to connect here -- we're practically neighbors! CATCH YOU LATER is my 7th novel, and they're all set at least partially in/around Cincinnati (Not That I Could Tell is the exception, set in Yellow Springs about an hour north of here). I'll be at Kentucky Book Festival in Lexington 11/2 and Books by the Banks in downtown Cincy 11/16 -- if you decide to attend either one (both are free), please be sure to say hi!

      Losing friends is so hard (and family even harder); I'm so very sorry for your recent losses. It sounds like everyone from Maysville does a good job of keeping track of each other, which is a blessing indeed, even if it has to be from afar.

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  27. Jessica, CONGRATULATIONS on the release of CATCH YOU LATER! I love, love, love, the premise. As I'm fortunate to have lifelong friends from most aspects of my life, I am absolutely looking forward to reading this brilliant premise of a mystery!

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  28. I grew up in rural Calabasas, moving there when I was 3 years old and that's when my favorite sister and I met our best friend nic named Hody. We are just a year apart, and as we got old enough to run, we hiked all around the canyons and gullies, creeks and hill tops, abandoned shacks and dry storm drains, looking for, not even kidding: dead bodies! We never found one but we thought the (short story first) movie Stand By Me could have been written about us! We've all turned 70-ish, still send cards, letters and texts regularly! We get together once a year in Calabasas. Hody stayed in Calabasas, and my sister and I moved away when we were 17 and 18, but we're still all sisters! Laurie Hernandez

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    1. The way you describe this is so atmospheric -- I can picture you all romping the rocky terrain with your detective hats on perfectly! Thanks you so much for sharing this. :)

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  29. Ooooh! This book totally captures my interest. My best friend and I met in Kindergarten. While we have evolved differently as individuals in some ways, we still love each other like family and see each other a couple/few times a year for extended visits. There is also a third bestie friend too! We feel fortunate in our lasting bonds to be sure and have somehow managed to rise above some of our more obvious differences as adults. It’s not always easy but we respect and love each other deeply and I suspect this has to do with our childhood experiences growing up in a small town together. We do appreciate each other despite our differences.This story sounds a bit of our different personalities-I could imagine my friend having made a decision like Mikki’s when we were younger. I am excited to read this book!

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    1. So glad to hear it, Stacia -- thanks for taking the time to say so! I love this story and am so glad you shared it. Sounds like all three of you are very lucky to have found each other.

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