“I want you to make one promise to me,” said Brian, my business partner, who also happens to be my brother-in-law. “What’s that?” I asked tentatively.

“When we have thousands and thousands of FOF women coming to the website, you won’t try to become personal friends with every single one.”

Here’s the thing: I love women: Women who have great marriages, careers, style, brains, perseverance, passion, humor, generosity, clarity, perspective, warmth and love. In other words, I love FOF women.

So every time I get a message from a woman who has signed up to be a member of faboverfifty.com, I want to meet her. The messages are extraordinary. They’re real, honest, inspiring, and funny.

Mary Alice, Colleen and Kathy (left to right) at their Girls' Weekend in the Hamptons on Long Island

“I’m 53 and glad to hear that someone has finally recognized that we’re not dead yet – and far from it! Bravo!”     Mary Alice, Lindenhurst, NY

“ Two years to the day after I turned fifty, my youngest daughter was in a catastrophic car accident, which left her a paraplegic. I had been let go from my job as a pharmaceutical rep.  Being a single mom with this happening in my life was really tough. But I am a FOF woman with three amazing daughters. We have always been close and this incident really solidified our bond.

Charlene, right, and her family at daughter Cori's graduation

“It has now been almost two years since the accident. I have embarked on a new career, studied and got all of my insurance licenses. I persevered. I have been the strength behind my girls. We have a passion for life. One day they, too, will be faboverfifty,  for we truly know what it means to be strong and bond.” –Charlene, Connecticut

How can I not try to be friends with women like these?