Every Monday morning, Melinda French goals Blocked her calendar to run with her three closest friends.
“I had incredibly happy to have three friends for over 30 years” YouTube Canal 60 years ago last year. “If you are in the city, you go.”
To celebrate the 60 milestone, French goalswhose company Pivotal Ventures support organizations and individuals at the top of the duration Gender -specific justicesat down with King and Winfrey for their series called “Moments that make usTo talk about the pearls of aging-and about the power of female friendship. King and Winfrey have been friends for 50 years after meeting in Baltimore when the 22-year-old Winfrey was the anchor and offered the 21-year-old king a job as a production assistant.
“She plays a role for me that is as solid as mother or sister or could be something,” said Winfrey, 71 years old, about king at the age of 70.
At the age of 30, Winfrey remembers using a new chance in Chicago. “Gayle was the only person who said:” I think they could make it, “she said, praising König that they believed in their potential.” The reasons why I think our friendship worked is that gayle is happier – but not happy, but happier– For me for all kinds of success, victory or challenge that I get through as for myself, ”said Winfrey in the interview. King announced the same feeling and said she hadn’t been at CBS or at the Met Gala if it were not for this friendship.
As for the French goals and their closest friends: “You are my truth council. If I make a really tough decision or make a big transition, I have to have the courage to tell you … and you are honest with me,” she said.
The power package trio is on something because Fortunately, the longest degree so far Underlines how the strength of our relationships is the greatest determinant of our happiness at the end of our lives. In addition, people are Demand for connection, And while it can be It is more difficult to maintain friendships in medium lifeIt is essential for our well -being in the middle of another Loneliness epidemic. In conjunction with the decreasing potential for happiness, social isolation is due to social isolation for dementia and chronic diseases such as heart disease.
There are strong friendships if both parties are supportive and promote others, give a helpful perspective and do not get into patterns of jealousy or competition, said Winfrey. And it doesn’t matter how many people you know because even a close friend is enough.
The importance of a support system for French goals during their much publicly divorce from 2021 was most clear Bill Gates– taken the time “Incredibly painful.“”
“I didn’t get through My divorce Without my three closest friends. There is no chance, ”said French goals in an interview, who said that she really told her trio of confidants about her relationship when she thought about her.
“You actually need a friend who tells you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. I will say about my friends, they have a perspective on me and I have a perspective on her,” she said. “If you have a long -term friendship, you have seen everything with the other person.”
What makes King and Winfrey’s friendship so strong? “We had very possible philosophies about people. We were so much synchronous with so many things,” said King, who adds that she would never make a big decision about life without receiving advice from Winfrey. “And philosophies about the approach to life,” said Winfrey.
Having close friendships not only strengthens our physical and mental health, but also helps us to redesign what it means to get older, and encourages us to make courageous transitions, follow our intestine and continue to grow, winfrey and King Note.
“Love helps you bloom and helps you to thrive and helps you to be the best of you,” said Winfrey, who encourages people to pay attention to the whisper that they move in the right direction and surround themselves with their “hiking cabinet” of friends in order to support themselves in times of need. “If you pay attention to your life, life will only get better.”
For French goals, she has the feeling that life only begins in the 1960s – and her weekly morning walks will continue to be a staple food of this new decade.
“Women did not talk about their age in the past, as if we were ashamed of as an age. But I’m really proud that I will be 60,” said French Gates. “Shouldn’t we celebrate? I hope that we have some wisdom at this age, right? We don’t talk about the meaning of a deep, deep female friendship.”
A version of this story that was originally published Fortune.com on July 26, 2024.
