Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love by Laura Dern, Diane Ladd with a foreword by Reese Witherspoon

The other day I ran into a woman at my church, and I had not seen her in more than 10 years. We started talking like old friends do, and she gave me updates on her three boys, which I was thrilled to hear about. When I was talking to her, I was struck but the realization that I will never know what it feels like to be the mother of a son. It made me a little sad, and a little curious, that I will never know that relationship. Instead, I was meant to be a mother of daughters, and that continues to make me happy every day. With two daughters, and two step-daughters, I only know girls, and that fact reminded me of this beautiful book: "Honey, Baby, Mine" by Laura Dern and her mother Diane Ladd. The idea for the book came about when actress Ladd was diagnosed with a life-threatening respiratory illness, and a doctor prescribed short walks to increase her lung capacity. Her actress-daughter, Laura, decided to go along on these walks, to support her mom. The conversations on these walks are the fabric for this honest, and deeply personal book. It is a rare gift for a mother and daughter to have the uninterrupted time to talk about such things as marriage, love, divorce, ambition and legacy.  Dern and Ladd take the time to cover them all, sometimes agreeing, and sometimes even disagreeing with each other. With photos, recipes and family stories, these two give us a glimpse into their bond, and the powerful lessons shared between a mother and daughter. To buy this book on Amazon click here.