13: Daring: My Passages: A Memoir by Gail Sheehy...the inscribed and signed copy that I purchased in 2014, likely, most likely--the year it came out and my first time attending the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison. I have been looking forward to reading it ever since. I'm not totally certain what prompted me to pull it off the shelf to take on now, but I am just so glad that I did. I really enjoyed this read. And I very much enjoyed reading it exactly when I did. The portion of Sheehy's story that takes place in the 1960s is what I was reading prior to State Competition and its focus on the 1960s, content-wise, so I felt I was just completely in the right mindset and thinking throughout that time. There are many similarities and even cross-overs, really, between Sheehy's story and the one that Katharine Graham tells in her Personal History, as Sheehy and Graham are not only living at and writing about the same times but also are friends and work in the same industry, so I found that to be a very interesting aspect of this read, having not so long ago read Graham's book. I appreciate Sheehy's honesty and sincerity in storytelling and completely appreciate the work she has done through a lifetime of journalism and writing work to help not only women but everyone through these "passages" in their lives. She is smart, insightful, has done deep research, and yet tells very clearly, too, how important it is to LIVE each day the best that you can. I love the value that she gives to simple things like meals with friends, gardening, yoga and tai chi and meditation...to people and relationships, valuable friendships. I feel stronger as a woman on this Thursday due to having lived all of that life, with its peaks and valleys, right alongside Ms. Sheehy for the past several days. She taught me well! (Read it!)