Trek into August on the friendship train! Celebrate and acknowledge the one, the few, or the many friends who give you back to yourself. Oprah applauds her boldest cheerleader and best friend, Gayle King. Use the daily mission calendar to honor and cherish your friendships every day.
What do I know for sure about friendship? That Gayle King is a friend I can count on. Twenty-five years ago this summer, I met my best friend, Gayle King. I was a news anchor at a station in Baltimore, she was a production assistant—each of us from groups that rarely interacted and certainly weren't friendly. From the day we met, Gayle made it known how proud she was that I had the exalted position of anchorwoman and how excited she was to be part of a team I was on. It has been that way ever since.

We didn't become friends right away—we were just two women respectful and supportive of each other's path. Then one night after a big snowstorm, Gayle couldn't get home so I invited her to stay at my place. Her biggest concern? Underwear. She was determined to drive 40 miles through a snowstorm to get to Chevy Chase, Maryland, where she lived with her mom, in order to have clean panties. "I have lots of clean underwear," I told her. "You can use mine, or we can go buy you some." Once I finally convinced her to come home with me, we stayed up the whole night talking. And with the exception of a few times during vacations spent out of the country, Gayle and I have talked every day since.
From the August 2001 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

NEXT STORY

Next Story