He was one of those guys who'd pronounce I'm a hugger as he came at you, neglecting to ask if the feeling was mutual.

Republicans go to Sam’s Club, Democrats go to Costco.

People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips.

Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two, yank out a tonsil, insert a shiny plastic hip. Women get consumed.

The worst feeling: when you just have to wait and prepare yourself for the lie.

It’s humbling, to become the very thing you once mocked.

There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.