People say children from broken homes have it hard, but the children of charmed marriages have their own particular challenges.

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

I waited patiently - years - for the pendulum to swing the other way, for men to start reading Jane Austen, learn how to knit, pretend to love cosmos, organize scrapbook parties, and make out with each other while we leer. And then we'd say, Yeah, he's a Cool Guy.

I think there is something very relatable in the idea that you hit a certain age, later in your life, where you realize you have to pick up the rug and see what's underneath it and deal with stuff.

Friends see most of each other’s flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit.

My dad had limitations. That's what my good-hearted mom always told us. He had limitations, but he meant no harm. It was kind of her to say, but he did do harm.

It's impossible to compete with the dead. I wished I could stop trying.