The bond of womanhood serves us well throughout our lives. My mother valued the companionship of friends her own age, but she also liked learning about the tastes, interests, and ideas of younger women. This worked to her advantage as she grew older and faced the hard reality that the long-time friends of her generation were leaving this earth in far too rapid succession. The friendships she cultivated with younger women helped to soften those repeated losses.
A house feels empty after the children grow up and move away, and my brothers and I had chosen to locate so far afield that frequents visits home weren't possible. We communicated regularly by letter or telephone. Once, on the phone, I complained to Dad that coping with the turmoil of four sons in my life made me yearn for the day when they'd all be grown up. His immediate answer was, "Well, it'll damned dull around the house without them."
Downtown Harlan, Iowa. Wikipedia
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