Sometimes when we forget to do things for others, it's because we're too wrapped up in our own problems.

Other people have suggested that I write about teens because I'm perpetually stuck in that stage of my own development. That could very well be true. I would throw out that teens and tweens are just absolutely fabulous and the most interesting people on the planet. And it is a time of high drama, and everything matters.

But you have to live in the present. You have to take the old and make it new -- that's my point.

I keep what I know about Sarah Lynn and Lawrence to myself. I also remind myself that even if Sarah Lynn does have a scary strict father, that doesn't release her from the responsibility of treating others with respect. Abuse of power is wrong, no matter the context, no matter the history. What is "power" anyway? Power is an ego trip. Power is a way to rise yourself up by lowering others, and I want nothing of it.

I was just teasing," I say. "I myself don't like to eat plain butter, but hey, it's a free world.

Yes, that man acted ugly," she told us in plain English. "But throwing more ugliness back at him ain't the answer.

Hey. What is it that famous person said? 'It'll all work out in the end, and if it doesn't, that means it's not the end yet'?