I was shocked when the husbands of two close friends had major heart attacks in their mid-thirties and died within two weeks of one another. Over the next decade, I saw more good friends go through an alarming number of divorces, spousal deaths, financial problems and job disasters, failing health and other derailments, including my own. Could anyone do anything to stem this tide? Probably not, but the idea of putting some of our stories into print came to mind. Perhaps others following in our footsteps could be forewarned about life coming to us on its own terms earlier than expected. After some discussion, five friends agreed to share their personal stories provided that anonymity be respected. I included my own experience and that of one friend written about posthumously. Even though the seven of us are women, I realize that challenges and difficulties are never gender specific, so in the Conclusion, I added one story about a man who lost his young daughter, and how he dealt with that. In "Journeys and Getaways: Women in Midlife Find Paths to Stability," readers will see that we are not famous, but our stories are real. We offer our messages so that they might facilitate the passages of others going through distressing times. I hope that readers will find some light within these pages.