Following the disintegration of these women’s first marriages, many of these Highland Park women seemed to develop a family all their own.  My aunt and her friends developed a close circle that welcomed its members back into the company of women, while second, third and fourth marriages for many transformed into a matter of business when the trust ran out.  By marrying a man, a minimum of ten years their senior, this group of women learned to ensure they’d always be the younger woman.  And by maintaining a level of intimacy with their female friends, this closeness was no longer a prerequisite required for romance.  Hence, the men became more like their pets, large creatures to be led around at church, taken to parties, and kept to provide them with a nice house and the funds for shopping.  All these Highland Park women seemed to have to do in return was to keep up their appearance, a look, a lifestyle, and a new level of indifference towards love.  Not that love didn’t exist for them, it’s just these women seemed to instead love one another, becoming each other’s version of man and wife.

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