No, I said. I didn't remember that. There was so much to remember, sometimes the best thing was to forget.

The word NO, carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.

One of the sad realities of being a parent is that the same stuff you know is exciting, educational, and enriching in your child'slife is often messy, smelly and exhausting to deal with.

The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn.

The big dramas that fascinate me are the quiet ones that happen behind closed doors in so-called ordinary families.

A good home must be made, not bought. In the end, it's not track lighting or a sun room that brings light into a kitchen.

Although Salinger had long since cut me out of his life completely and made it plain that he had nothing but contempt for me, the thought of becoming the object of his wrath was more than I felt ready to take on.