Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. The older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Replace the words "have to" with "get to" and watch how the cold rain on your life changes to sunshine.

I couldn't have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother's death. The renewed energy, the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.