It is impossible to truly understand the depth of experience that can occur in one 24-hour period in the life of a woman until you read this marvelous, enlightening, and inspiring book that presents a day in the life of women from all walks of life. This Day In The Life: Diaries From Women Across America offers dozens of insightful entries from women around the country, all focused on the activities of one particular day – June 29, 2004.

This day in history may have been dotted with truly global events, but this book shows how one day, any day, can have profound meaning and importance on a much more personal level, as in that of the life of a woman. The essays and entries in this book are from women as diverse as famous entertainers, firefighters, foreign correspondents, refugees from other nations, moms struggling to raise children, moms struggling to care for their own parents, and wives, daughters, sisters, colleagues and friends, each with their own special story to tell.

Some of the 34 entries speak of the amazing courage and strength of women, like Adeeba Sulaiman, a refugee from Iraq now helping other refugees find their footing in a new land. Other stories show the struggle of working two jobs to try to make a life, like Paige Balter of Portland, Oregon. Still others focus on motherhood and caretaking, as in my favorite entry in the book from Roberta Blain in Utah, which was so utterly moving I cried.

There are also some short entries called “Miscellaneous Moments” and “On the Job,” with simple one-paragraph slice-of-life perspectives such as the one from Verlene Schermer from San Jose, California, who recalls how her harp-playing at a local hospital inadvertently gave courage to a dying patient. In the section titled “24/7,” the entries are even shorter yet no less profound, as in this absolute one-sentence gem from Julia Litton in Minnesota – “I FOUND THE SECOND PACIFIER!” Only another mom can understand just how that one sentence can shape the course of a whole day!

The entries range from joyful to tragic, hopeful to despairing, inspiring to exhausting and create a beautiful patchwork quilt of the fabric of a day in the life of women. And no matter how different these women may be, there are fibers of truth that run through all their stories, and that is what makes this book so amazing. That our lives, no matter how boring and simple they may sometimes seem, are miracles - moment-by-moment miracles.