Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational - but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?

Sun lighting a child's hair. A friend's embrace. Slow dancing in a safe and quiet place. The pleasures of an ordinary life.

There is a time to separate from our mother. But unless we are ready to separate-unless we are ready to leave her and be left-anything is better than separation.

Passionate investment leaves us vulnerable to loss. And sometimes, no matter how clever we are, we must lose.

many of us are done with adolescence before we are done with adolescent love.

Our father presents an optional set of rhythms and responses for us to connect to. As a second home base, he makes it safer to roam. With him as an ally--a love--it is safer, too, to show that we're mad when we're mad at our mother. We can hate and not be abandoned, hate and still love.

Our early lessons in love and our developmental history shape the expectations we bring into marriage.