Author Linda Hale Bucklin made a pact with her husband, Bill, to communicate after death. She shares her personal experience along with others' of love and faith in the afterlife. We all deal with our grief in different ways. Bill, my beloved husband of forty years, died unexpectedly after a short illness. During our years together, we made a pact that whoever passed first would communicate with the other. As shocked and devastated as I was by Bill's...

As this compilation of stories teaches, friendship between women rarely happens automatically-that's what makes it special. Sometimes the circumstances of life-like moving to a new city, or losing your job, or entering your child in school-create an opportunity. But the act of friendship is intentional. Openness is a key ingredient even though recognition of a woman as a friend may require time. Friendship must often go through crisis or trial, some...