Every week, Maria and her friends meet for lunch, I do not know their agenda, she doesn’t discuss what they say, but I know Maria feels the group is supportive and she looks forward to going. She always returns feeling nourished and affirmed. In our busy and sometimes disconnected lives, I see this something women do much more than men, and it seems to me it is the embodiment of connection, a universal human desire. I have a number of close friends now, some of them women, most of them men, and this is new to me, I can talk openly and easily with them about the things that matter to us – life, our children, our work, getting older, health care, the sad state of American politics.

I was having lunch with a friend inside the Round House care when I looked out the window and saw Maria and her friends engaged in a conversation that seemed animated and happy and purposeful. It was a good feeling, and when I saw the woman sitting in the window above, I also saw that it was a good picture. The group has inspired me to make sure I tell my friends that they are important to me, and that I appreciate seeing them and admire what they are doing with their lives and trying to do. These connections are the thread of life, as meaningful to me – often more so – than the animals I live with.