A few summers ago, I read Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah and immediately fell in love with the characters, their friendship, their stories, and their heartache. I just felt connected to them.
They reminded me of my mom and her best friends and of me and my best friends. These generations of women who lived life together and know each other’s secrets and hurts and sickness and health and love. These friendships that are like a sisterhood.
When the book Fly Away came out as a follow-up to Firefly Lane (now in paperback), I was so excited to read it. You get invested in the characters of Tully and Kate and Marah, especially since this is a book that is so relatable about friendship.
My mother has three of the most amazing friends anyone could ever imagine. They have been dear friends for three decades. They have experienced pregnancies, raising children, sending children off to college, watching kids get married, and raising grandchildren together. These women are also like second mothers to me. Looking at them brings my childhood into focus and I know that because they love my mother almost as much as I love my mother, that they would do anything for me… and this loyalty spans the generations of all of our kids.
As we’ve gone through the realization of my mother’s melanoma diagnosis and the acceptance of her condition, I’ve looked at these friendships in an entirely new light. These are the ladies that know my mom’s stories. They are the ones that she confides in when she needs someone to talk to. I am so thankful that my mom is with us. We cherish every single day and never focus on what the future holds. I know that if anything ever happens to her, her friends are the ones that I want to sit down with to share memories and secrets and stories.
I was reminded of my mom and her friends when I read Fly Away, the story of three women who need each other—plus a miracle—to transform their lives.
An emotionally-complex, heart wrenching novel about love, family, motherhood, loss, and redemption, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope and where there is love, there is forgiveness, and Kristin Hannah reveals why she is one of the most beloved writers of our day.
To enter to win a $100 Visa gift card and a copy of Fly Away, please comment below and answer the following question: “What is your best memory with your best friend?” You can also visit the website to read an excerpt and watch a couple of videos that bring you into the world of Fly Away.
Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 4/1/2014-4/30/2014.
Be sure to visit the St. Martin’s Press brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
I have great memories of us in summers between college just driving around town and stopping at various restaurants for dessert.
My memories of my best friend, which spans over 30 years so far is when her mom died. She called me first and I went to her right away and we cried and cried and I stood by her side through it all. It was such an honor.
My best friend is my twin sister. I think my best memory with her is experiencing motherhood together. Watching our kids grow together is such fun.
I have wonderful memories of playing sports, taking all the same classes and working together through high school. We continued our friendship throughout college at two different Universities and now that we are both moms, we continue our friendship and hope that our children will foster that relationship as well!
I love my memories of my best friend and I during college, getting married to great guys and also being pregnant together. Our children are two weeks apart, we vacation together and have so many laughs together. I feel incredibly blessed to have her in my life.
My best memories are of the two of us talking for hours on the phone in the 8th grade. He moved and we weren’t able to see each other as often. But when we did, we picked up in mid-conversation as if we had never been apart. He was never a boyfriend, just a true kindred spirit.
I bought Firefly Lane for my mom for Christmas. She brought it to me to read and I need to get started! I like that there is now a follow up story. My favorite memory…I’m not sure I can narrow it down to just one, so how about an overall feeling of gratitude of how my best friend, who just recently got married and has no children, has embraced me in my motherhood. She volunteers to keep Jack and is so encouraging. Something I truly treasure.
My favorite memory of my best friend is when we met – we were randomly paired as roommates at marching band camp the summer before our freshman year of college. She fell ill that week and I helped take care of her and we bonded quickly. I read Firefly Lane a long time ago and loved it (I’ll have to find a good summary to refresh my memory) and can’t wait to read the follow-up.
My best memory with my best friend is from Christmas. We would always call each other on Christmas morning to see what each of us got and then that night I would always go to her house to spend the night. We did this every year until we left for college! Those are special memories for me since she died 11 years ago.
Sounds like a book I would enjoy reading. Praying for your Mom as well. My best memory with my best friends is just going and doing things together and laughing our heads off. My we had some great times and just about anything was funny to us. I miss laughing and not having a care in the world with my friends.
I think my favorite memories with my best friend from childhood are all the sleep over parties we had. We laughed, talked, snacked, laughed, were silly, laughed… SO fun and SO much laughter.
I love Kristin Hannah and these two books! Such tear jerkers. The main characters remind me of memories made with my friend Ali. Particularly a trip we took when we were fourteen to Florida and got to fly by ourselves!
My favourite memory was the day before we left for college, we sat on my bed and talked for hours. We cried, we laughed, and we laughed some more. It was bittersweet!
My best friend and I have been friends since 3rd grade (35 years!). I don’t have many memories without her in them but my favorites are camping out in the backyard during a meteor shower. My Daddy would insist on it since he loved it so much. Today, we live 6 hours apart but call each other on nights when there is a meteor shower to make sure we’re both hauling our kiddos outside to watch. Friendship is a gift!
My best friend and I became best friends when she married my husband’s best friend that he has had since second grade. I knew from the moment I met her that we would have a very special relationship. When she was a few months pregnant with baby #2, she I asked me to be her birth photographer. I’m not a professional photographer by any means, but I do love photography. It was such an honor and a privilege to be with them when their sweet baby girl entered this world and to capture those first few moments with them.
I meet my best friend when we both moved to a new town to teach after college. We meet walking on the high school track. Yesterday we walked again on a another track. Out lives have focused on our love of teaching, faith, family and exercise. We are weight watchers buddies also. I am so glad God bought us together.
My best friend and I used to travel to the beach together each year in high school and college. Everything about it was perfect, the long car ride there, the time on the beach doing goofy stuff and sharing ice cream, and even the drive back. Definitely some of my best memories!
My best friend is my husband and my best, or favorite memory, is when we drove to Oregon to get married on the coast.
https://twitter.com/LuLu_Brown24/status/451021118560686080
My best friend has been with me since middle school, but my favorite memories of her are when we were college roommates. The hysterical things that happen when you are living with a friend are some of the best memories.
High school was a hard time for me, so my best memories with my best friend take place during those four years, after school was out each day. We’d find each other and spend a good hour together before our moms were able to pick us up, and we would laugh and laugh. I was able to get in the car happy every day, because of her.
Love her books and also loved Firefly Lane!
One of my favorite memories with my bestie was going skydiving together two years ago for our birthdays! Nothing like dare-devil moments with the ones you love most!
Love her books and Firefly Lane! I’m excited to read this one!
My favorite memory with my bestie was going sky diving two years ago to celebrate our birthdays! Nothings says friendship like dare-devil moments!
The best memory with my friend spending Christmas together, building a snowman and playing outside
https://twitter.com/ElenaIstomina/status/451026727913783296
My best friends are my sisters and Mom. I think it would probably be those days that we would go shopping until our feet could move no more and then having to do a fashion show for eachother at the end.
My best friend was in the room when I had my daughter and I am forever thankful she was there to experience that with me. She has been there for all three positive pregnancy tests and my kids think of her like family.
My best memory with my best friend would be our road trip down the east coast. We went to Disney World together for the first time, it was one of the best times I’ve had with him.
https://twitter.com/jennad289/status/451050755093307392
I great memory of spending time with my closest friends is when we spent a long weekend at Folly Beach a few years ago when one of them was getting married. Just us girls went and we had a blast. Stayed up way too late talking/laughing, ate great food and had some adult beverages too. We all have very differerent lives and like most people are busy but know matter what we make time for one another. They are my sisters and I love them very much. Love Kristin Hannah btw. Thanks!
It’s rough to pick just one when you have been friends for 30 years but the one that sticks out now is when my best friend called me in the early hours of the morning. Her son had been taken to the hospital in the middle of the night with whooping cough at only 2 months old. The doctors told her they didn’t know if he would make it. The fact that she called me with that information meant so much. I got there as soon as possible and we just stood outside the room and hugged and sobbed. No words just tears. It was a moment when we were just connected!
I have known my best friend for 26 years, so there are a lot of memories! Definitely playing dress up in her attic, being in each other’s weddings, and now, watching our girls play so nicely together!
I have so many great memories of us spending so much time together, we could practically speak our own language! We were definitely a “pair” together and were rarely without one another!
My favorite memories with my best friend were the summer days when we would ride around in the car with the windows down, signing and the top of our lungs to the radio and dancing!
My best friend was my mom and I remember spending our summers at the shore
I have to say that it’d be impossible to choose my favorite memories with my two best friends growing up, but overall… Our ability to laugh with each other EVERY time we are together, regardless of our current circumstances. That has to be my favorite thing bout us… Does that count as a memory? 😛
My best friend is my twin sister and there are too many memories to pick just one!
My best friend stayed up all night with me while I cried over a breakup.
tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/451153346343092224
I remember sleepovers where we just talked for hours!
I will always remember the 1st day I returned to grade school after almost being abducted outside my home while in elementary school. My best friend held my hand all the way on the walk to school and waited to walk with me home from school. It was this act of kindness that I knew we were best friends, and she knew I would do the same for her. We walked or drove to school almost every day together all the way through high school. It is so special to look back and see how my best friend helped me make it through a difficult time in life and we can celebrate today.
While in elementary school I was almost abducted outside my home. On my 1st day back to school, my best friend held my hand on the way to school and waited to walk home with me after school. It was at this moment I knew we were best friends. We continued to walk or drive to school together through high school. I know in good times and bad I can count on my best friend and she can count on me, as we learned years ago.
My best memory of my best friend is when we were in the Army together.
One of my best memories is when our first child was born. We were told immediately that he had Down Syndrome, and my husband had the task of calling all of our family and friends to tell them. I heard him on the phone with one set of our closest friends…he was trying so hard not to cry. I heard him tell them, “no, don’t come…we are fine.”
In less than 2 hours, they were in my hospital room. They came anyway. I’ll never forget that.
My best memories of my best friends are staying up late talking about a bunch of random things.
I tweeted. https://twitter.com/zo1414/status/451204400283783168
One of the best memories is how we “accidental” become pregnant in the same time and give a birth to our children with week between them. Honestly- it wasn’t planed, and these 9 months were full of support to each other, as we were first time mums.
I have a group of 4 girlfriends that have been together since elementary school. We have taken a cruise together every time one of us gets married. Those trips are definitely my favorite memories.
A great memory, that is very recent, is when one of my best friends went to the hospital for an emergency c-section to deliver her twins. I dropped everything immediately and drove 580 miles to be with her. She was extremely grateful, but no more than I was for being able to be there with her for the first few days as a new momma to her baby girl and boy.
My best friend and I were pregnant at the same time and enjoy being praying mommies and wives together. When one of us needs encouragement in either of those areas she is the first I call and vise verse. My favorite memory with her is when I was feeling particularly down about being a new mom and having no idea what I was doing. She said, “God picked you to be Caleb’s mommy. He has given you special insight for his life. You can do this.” I have never and I will never forget those words.
https://twitter.com/katlang813/status/451420683734491137
My tweet!
My favorite memories with my best friend was living together in college and laughing harder than I ever thought possible. So much fun! Praying for your Mom Erin!
Sitting in the kitchen of the apartment we shared for a year, eating melty break-and-bake cookies fresh from the oven. 🙂
I consider the relationship with my best friend to be one of great privilege as she and I are both quiet, shy people. So when she really wants to talk – I love to listen. She used to come in my room late at night when we were college roommates – those talks are some of my favorite college memories.
my best memories with my best friend are really just time spent sitting around on days with no plans! when we were in high school, that looked like hanging out in her parents’ kitchen or playing pranks on our guys friends. now, it looks like playing with our kids together, and having a glass of wine on the porch together once the babies are asleep. and i love what you shared about your mom and her best friends- my mom had/has the same type of friendships and they enriched my life so much. now, i’m so so grateful to them for what they mean to her!
Riding home from school together was always my favorite. We have so many inside jokes and share so many memories. We still can just look at each and laugh, a true friend forever!
Being in each other’s weddings, and being pregnant at the same time. That was such a precious time for us!
My favorite memory is of us spending time together at my family’s cabin on San Juan Island!
Tweet!
https://twitter.com/ScoomerBlog/status/451572865473585152
I don’t think I’ll ever forget her wedding! It was so awesome!! 🙂
Going on family vacations with her family every year to the beach and mountains….we always had great adventures and made wonderful memories!
My best memory with my best friend is finding out at 1:00 in the morning that the baby girl they were going to adopt was coming home to them in just a few hours! Going with them to the airport 3 hours away to pick her up was the absolute most amazing thing to experience and I will always treasure the honor of being with them when they saw her for the first time….love my BFF and her daughter, who by the way is now a beautiful 21 year old young woman!
I have memories od spending Summers with my best friend. We would spend a lot of time swimming. One Summer we went on vacation together and had a lot of fun being adventuries.
https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/452493165803892737
We took a very special trip together that really cemented our friendship bond.
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/rubylorikeet/status/452590387090046977
Truthfully, my parents are some of my best friends these days- and I have lots of great memories with both o them! Probably seeing them with my own children is one of my favorites.
chambanachik(at)gmail(dot)com
We were on an awesome college committee together and had such fun at dances the committee hosted. Nothing like dancing in the street with your whole college!
My sweet friend and I would spend Saturdays in the spring and fall on our bicycles in downtown. Our tiny town boasts an Italian restaurant, a *then* Revco, and a video store — we would spend our Saturday between those three stores and then go home to play with our new goodies from Revco. So fun!
I loved firefly lane…I am so excited to learn of a sequel! My favorite memory with my best friend is listening to her give the speech at my wedding….she recounted stories from 15 years ago and allowed some of my newer friends at my wedding to see a completely different side of me.
My best memory with my BFF is backpack to Europe, I still remember we had our pictures taken by La Tour Eiffel.
tcarolinep at gmail dot com
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/453367690380341249
My best memory with my best friend was singing in choir practice, at the top of our lungs, Band On The Run whilst everyone else was singing Ave Maria…
Nobody ever said I was a well-behaved girl in grammar school…
My favorite memory was her wedding day.
It was a camping trip we went on about 20 yrs ago.
My favorite memory was when she was my maid of honor at my wedding!
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
tweet–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/456027071664644097
My favorite memory was when my best friend came with my mom and I so I could accept an award, I was so embarrassed!
https://twitter.com/myfolly/status/456588762621833216
My favorite memory is moving into an apartment in San Francisco with my best friend from preschool. We had the best time ever living and working in the city together. We’ve been through everything together and I am so thankful for her friendship.
My best memories are shairng Christmas get togethers.
when we went to cedar point
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/457966972702314496
her wedding day
My favorite memory with my best friend? I’ve got to go waaaaaaaaaay back, but when we were about 12, we were having a slumber party. Of COURSE we weren’t sleeping at midnight when it started to snow, so we went out and played in it. It was the most magical snow ever, we built the greatest snowman (and named him Baker.) I’ve never again encountered such perfect snow. The best :).
My best friend is most definitely my husband. We were friends for awhile before we even started dating. I love that he has ALWAYS been there to talk me through tough times, to pick me up when I was sad, has always had my best interest in mind, and of course can make me laugh more than any other person I know! My favorite memory has got to be our first date together, casino hopping in Las Vegas…such a FUN night!
My best memories are from so long ago with my best friend since childhood. We used to have lemonade stands together – I’ll never forgot those times!
i like her honesty
tweeted: https://twitter.com/KerryBishop/status/459475619873452033
Back when we were in college we used to stay up late talking and laughing. Fun times!
tweet https://twitter.com/neiddy_ruiz/status/459807538532204544
I would say going out of town and living it up to the fullest.
https://twitter.com/disneyfan40/status/460249822134423552
My best friend always has my back; that’s what I like most.
I tweeted at
https://twitter.com/leedhowell/status/460526526337785856
My best memory is when I married my best friend!
https://twitter.com/ajoy1332/status/461262650920275968
i remember fun times with my BFF when we were in high school
i posted a tweet:
https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/461331736400363521
I remember getting free makeovers at the mall
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/461376029169180672
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
We had such fun in high school, going to football games and just hanging out together. We even had summer jobs just a couple of blocks apart and would meet for lunch together.
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/461415415483101184
all the times she has made me laugh.
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/461521199559098368
My best friend has the greatest sense of humor. She makes me laugh til I cry 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway
taking road trips and vacations together pryfamily5@gmail.com
i tweeted https://twitter.com/DaPryz/status/461544041755066368 pryfamily5@gmail.com
My favorite memory with my best friend is when we went on a cruise together.
https://twitter.com/thomasmurphy40/status/461579425402724353
Once, we decided to crash our husbands mini getaway, and ended up mudding through the hills of norther Wisconsin with them. It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done, and I’m glad I got to share it with her!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
Tweet: https://twitter.com/coriwestphal/status/461623887663357952
coriwestphal at msn dot com