I inscribe three lines, hush hush hush, into my skin. Ghosts trickle out.

So, she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee.

I’m the girl who trips on the dance floor and can’t find her way to the exit. All eyes on me.

Hannah was about to burst with excitement, which would have been disgusting because she would have sprayed blood, guts and glitter in every direction.

We're good at taking care of little kids, and spend a lot of energy teaching them things like how to read. But when kids get as tall as their parents and can look them in the eyes, we tend to drop the ball - at a time they most need a loving consistent community of adults, be it parents, aunts, uncles, or others.

A little kid asks my dad why that man is chopping down the tree. Dad: He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.

I am super proud of being an American, but we fail our veterans every day.