My Mom Is Pushing 100 — Why Am I Still So Conflicted? — When I tell people that my mother will turn 100 this year, I get two kinds of responses. The first is along these lines: “Bless her! You’re so lucky to have your mom!” This sentiment is almost always from people who have never had a really, really, old parent. In…

How I wish I could have known my grandmothers. How I wish they could have seen their legacy. Still, I carry them with me. My grandmother Isabel spent most of her life locked in a psychiatric ward. My Dad last saw her when he was six years old; she died…

Magical and terrifying, the great dragon of a train chugged down the coast — When I was a young kid, my parents refused to fly. For several years, the family took the train from New York to Florida to vacation. The train, which left in the early evening from Penn Station, looked like an enormous, smoking dragon to me. At the age of five…

How Do You Process Good Fortune Without Claiming to be “Blessed”? — Last night I was startled out of sleep by a huge crash. At first, I thought the house had been struck by lightening. But there was no thunder rumbling; the noise had been explosive. I fumbled for the bedside light switch, but the room remained dark. Power was out. I…

In the dark of the night, I count. — Lately, I’ve been counting countries. In alphabetical order. By continent. Antigua, Argentina, Austria, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Angola, Afghanistan — you get the idea. For your information there are 17 countries that begin with “M.” On a bad night, I get all the way to Zaire and Zimbabwe. Did I…

Early this month, my husband asked what day school started. “I have no idea,” I told him. Why would I? My kids are adults and my grandchild is too young for kindergarten. For decades my life revolved around the school schedule. Now it just means that I time my errands…

I’m making this public confession to share the most important lesson of my career. Never — not even “just this once” — cut corners to meet a deadline. You might get away with it a few times. But trust me, it can end in humiliating disaster. Yes, I prematurely buried…

Breaking My Wordscapes Addiction — “I’m clawing my way back to third place,” I tell my husband. We are in a cabin in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, surrounded by towering pine trees and the freshest air imaginable. But I don’t look up from my iPad. It’s tournament weekend. Of course, every weekend…

I’ve Seen Some Things You Need to Know About As I stare down at my granddaughter’s perfect, tiny face, watching her eyes take in the world around her, I keep pondering the recently leaked Supreme Court document that would overturn Roe. V. Wade. It’s hard for me to wrap my…