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Every Monday morning, Melinda French Gates <\/a>has her calendar blocked to walk with her three closest female friends<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been incredibly lucky to have three female friends now for over 30 years,\u201d French Gates tells Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King in an interview posted to her YouTube<\/a> channel this week. \u201cIf you\u2019re in town, you walk.\u201d<\/p>\n In celebration of turning 60, French Gates<\/a>, who recently announced a $1 billion<\/a> donation to organizations and individuals at the forefront of gender equity<\/a>, sat down with King and Winfrey for her series called \u201cMoments That Make Us\u201d to talk about the pearls of aging\u2014and the power of female friendship. King and Winfrey have been friends for 50 years after meeting in Baltimore when 22-year-old Winfrey was the anchor and offered 21-year-old King a job as a production assistant. They tell French Gates that their lives would be wildly different if it weren\u2019t for having each other\u2019s ongoing support, which has taken them through job changes and King\u2019s divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cShe fills a role for me that is as solid as mothering or sistering or anything could be,\u201d Winfrey, age 70, says of King, age 69.\u00a0<\/p>\n Winfrey, at age 30, recalls being reluctant to take a new opportunity in Chicago. \u201cGayle was the only person who said, \u2018I think you could do it,\u2019\u201d she says, praising King for believing in her potential. \u201cThe reasons why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier\u2014not happy but happier<\/em>\u2014for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself,\u201d Winfrey says in the interview. King shares the same sentiment back who says she would not have been at CBS or the Met Gala if it weren\u2019t for this friendship.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for French Gates and her closest friends: \u201cThey are my truth counsel. Whenever I\u2019m going to make a really hard decision or make a big transition, I know I have to have the courage to tell them \u2026 and they\u2019re honest with me,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The powerhouse trio is onto something because the longest study on happiness to date <\/a>underscores how the strength of our relationships is the biggest determinant of our happiness at the end of our life. Further, people are craving connection,<\/a> and while it can be harder to maintain friendships in midlife<\/a>, it\u2019s imperative for our well-being amid an ongoing loneliness epidemic<\/a>. In conjunction with diminishing happiness potential, social isolation puts people at risk for dementia and chronic conditions like heart disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n Strong friendships persist when both parties are supportive and encouraging of the other, can lend a helpful perspective, and don\u2019t fall into patterns of jealousy or competition, Winfrey says. And it doesn\u2019t matter how many people you know because even one close friend is enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n The importance of having a support system became most apparent for French Gates during\u00a0 her 2021 much-publicized divorce from Bill Gates\u2014calling the time \u201cunbelievably painful.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n