Excerpt from 'The Girls from Ames'

Updated: May 1, 2009 - 3:09 PM

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How did it all start? When, exactly, did the 11 of them begin to bond? ...

Most of the other girls didn't begin meeting face-to-face until kindergarten or first grade. Cathy, Sally and Sheila went to St. Cecelia on Lincoln Way, the local Catholic school, and their friendship took root because of proximity and happenstance. As an adult, Cathy has spent time marveling about this. She admits that if she hadn't met her Ames friends until adulthood, it would have taken more time to connect -- or they might not have connected at all. After all, the friends she has made in Los Angeles tend to be non-traditional, having kids later in life and working in the entertainment industry or other creative jobs.

In Ames, the girls often landed in each other's lives by virtue of alphabetical order or group homework assignments. Cathy became friends with Sally in first grade because their teacher at St. Cecelia made the match. Cathy had a broken arm and had missed the first week of school. When she showed up at the class, the teacher said, "Why don't you go sit next to Sally?' The teacher figured Sally and Cathy were the two tallest girls. And Sally was smart, so she could help Cathy catch up on the missed work. From that pairing, a lifelong friendship was born.

Sheila became Cathy's friend because they lived near each other. The two of them ended up walking home from school together every day. That brought Sheila into Sally's life, too.