When we talk about God, I think what most of us mean is some greater thing, some higher power that can help us access our own strength or give us strength.

We're seeing a decline in religion in North America but, I hope, a rise in individual spirituality. Whatever that means to people.

I hum some secret place into being, thinking of this other me, the one that only I can see, a girl called She, who is not We, a girl who I will never be.

I'm not alone in having obese people in my circle and in my family. I have loved morbidly obese people, and I don't approach obesity with revulsion or judgment but with empathy and compassion.

I have had, like most women, a lifelong preoccupation with my weight. My first published short story was a love story between an elderly man and a very young morbidity obese woman.

When you stand outside, you look around and find that the people you're with live on the fringes.

The drugstore is a wonderful place to see all manner of ailments.