Friends are "annuals" that need seasonal nurturing to bear blossoms. Family is a "perennial" that comes up year after year, enduring the droughts of absence and neglect. There's a place in the garden for both of them.

Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.

Remember, you can lead a fifty-seven-year-old body to motherhood, but you can't make it stay awake.

I have seen my kid struggle into the kitchen in the morning with outfits that need only one accessory: an empty gin bottle.

When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out.

It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.

Some say our national pastime is baseball. Not me. It's gossip.