Celebrating Old Friends

Paired with colorful and vibrant art by Lenny Wen, Old Friends by Margaret Aitken is an inventive and heartfelt debut picture book that celebrates found family, caregiving, and the value of intergenerational friendships. Marjorie wants a friend who loves the same things she does: baking shows, knitting, and gardening. Someone like Granny. So with a sprinkle of flour in her hair and a spritz of lavender perfume, Marjorie goes undercover to the local Senior Citizens Group. It all goes well until the Cha-Cha-Cha starts and her cardigan camouflage goes sideways. By being true to herself, Marjorie learns that friends can be of any age if you look in the right places.

Over the last decade Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, has put a new face on the concept of equine aftercare. When Michael Blowen first dreamed of creating Old Friends, he envisioned a place where Thoroughbred stallions could retire with dignity following their racing or breeding careers. He also wanted people to visit the iconic horses. In 2003, Old Friends opened on leased land with a miniature horse named Little Silver Charm, a gelding named Invigorate and a mare named Narrow Escape. Today, the two-hundred-plus-acre farm in Georgetown has more than 160 retired Thoroughbred stallions, geldings and mares, including two Kentucky Derby winners. It even welcomed two satellite farms, one in New York and one at Kentucky Downs racetrack. In his follow-up to History of Old Friends, Rick Capone revisits the unforgettable history of this horse retirement home.

"WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION" "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" We've all had friendships that have gone bad. Whether it takes the form of a simple yet inexplicable estrangement or a devastating betrayal, a failed friendship can make your life miserable, threaten your success at work or school, and even undermine your romantic relationships. Finally there is help. In When Friendship Hurts, Jan Yager, recognized internationally as a leading expert on friendship, explores what causes friendships to falter and explains how to mend them -- or end them. In this straightforward, illuminating book filled with dozens of quizzes and real-life examples, Yager covers all the bases, including: The twenty-one types of negative friends -- a rogues' gallery featuring such familiar types as the Blood-sucker, the Fault-finder, the Promise Breaker, and the Copycat How to recognize destructive friends as well as how to find ideal ones The e-mail effect -- how electronic communication has changed friendships for both the better and the worse The misuse of friendship at work -- how to deal with a co-worker's lies, deceit, or attempts at revenge How to stop obsessing about a failed friendship And much more The first highly prescriptive book to focus on the complexities of friendship, When Friendship Hurts demonstrates how, why, and when to let go of bad friends and how to develop the positive friendships that enrich our lives on every level. For everyone who has ever wondered about friends who betray, hurt, or reject them, this authoritative book provides invaluable insights and advice to resolve the problem once and for all.

A Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s “touching, funny and inspiring” true story of daily life in a New England nursing home (The New York Times). Ninety-year-old Lou quit school after the eighth grade, worked for the rest of his life, and stayed with the same woman for nearly seventy years. Seventy-two-year-old Joe was chief probation officer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, holds a law degree, and has faced the death of a son and the raising of a mentally challenged daughter. Now, the two men are roommates in a nursing home. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, the two become close friends. Focusing on these two men as well as introducing us to the other aging residents of Linda Manor in Northampton, Massachusetts, literary journalist Tracy Kidder examines the sorrows and joys of growing older and the universal struggle to find meaning in the face of mortality. From the New York Times–bestselling author and National Book Award–winning author of The Soul of a New Machine, this is an extraordinary look inside an often-hidden world. “As in his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the best-selling Among Schoolchildren, Kidder reveals his extraordinary talent as a storyteller by taking the potentially unpalatable subject of life in a nursing home and making it into a highly readable, engrossing account.” —Library Journal “Rich detail and true-to-the-ear dialogue let the brave and determined elderly speak for themselves—and for the continually surprising potential of the human spirit.” —Kirkus Reviews

Celebrate old friends, make new ones, and learn how to navigate sticky friendship situations with this fun and helpful guidebook. Good friends make you laugh until your stomach hurts, support you during tough times, and brighten even the gloomiest of days. But like all relationships, friendships can be complicated. The tricky stuff, like figuring out how to make new friends, navigating group dynamics, and getting through arguments, might have you feeling overwhelmed. This guide to friendship has you covered! Through quizzes, tips from experts, and stories and advice from girls around the world, you’ll learn: - How to strike up a conversation with a potential new friend - Tips for setting boundaries and communicating your feelings - The ins and outs of getting through a fight - What to do when you feel left out - Fun ways to celebrate your friends and more!

American society is no longer defined by marriage. Today, an increasing majority of American households are headed by single men and women. Even those Americans who do marry spend at least half of their adult lives alone. Living on one's own presents unique challenges depending on one's age, health, and circumstances. So the script for successful single living calls for different strategies for young adults, the recently divorced, single parents, and those widowed or experiencing single life in later adulthood. Here, Dr. Yount considers each group's special needs and challenges and offers a guide for leading a productive, rewarding, and fulfilling single life. Single living, he contends, requires some core abilities: overcoming loneliness, reaching out to others, developing faith in oneself and self-respect, keeping up with daily activities, and maintaining good health, security, and a sense of humor. This book helps readers learn to celebrate their single status and to find contentment and peace while living on their own. These days, if you are unmarried and pining for romance, you are in a small minority. Until recently, most Americans considered single life to be a temporary situation during which one would simply wait for a soul mate to come along. Those who remained unwed were pitied as bachelors and spinsters. No longer! These days, most single men and women find autonomy in negotiating their way through life by relying on their own resources, with marriage remaining one option, but not an imperative. Even those who do marry are getting married later, and those who divorce or are widowed often choose to stay single. With this trend toward singlehood increasing, affirming the single life and making a success of it becomes all the more important. Yount offers advice for creating a gratifying and happy single life at any stage, and provides insight into those things that can contribute to a satisfying single lifestyle. He pinpoints areas that often get ignored by singles, and proposes solutions to some of the pitfalls that can lead to loneliness or unhappiness. Leading a fulfilling single life is not only possible, it can in fact be rewarding in itself, and Yount shows readers how to lead productive and creative lives as modern singles.

Will their new-found freedom come at a price? It’s 1970 and Debbie Hargreaves is heading to college in Leeds, where she’ll be sharing with three girls she’s never met before. Although they’re all from very different backgrounds, Debbie soon becomes firm friends with shy Lisa, outspoken Karen and cool, self-assured Fran. At the same time, Fiona is struggling to cope with four young children and her duties as a rector’s wife. The arrival of a new childminder should be the answer to her prayers, but Glenda’s open flirting with Fiona’s husband soon sets tongues wagging. Is Fiona’s marriage really under threat? Debbie loves her newfound independence and the male attention she attracts, but in enjoying her new freedom is she neglecting her family and friends, and forgetting her roots? A charming saga of family and friendship, perfect for fans of Margaret Dickinson and Rosie Harris.