One of the things about grief is that it can bring a deeper perspective into your life; in the end, it has, for me, though it's also brought sorrow.

But there is a discomfort that surrounds grief. It makes even the most well-intentioned people unsure of what to say. And so many of the freshly bereaved end up feeling even more alone.

It's a blessing not to be alone in your grief but it's also painful to see your parents and siblings in pain.

If the condition of grief is nearly universal, its transactions are exquisitely personal.

What's endlessly complicated in thinking about women's gymnastics is the way that vulnerability and power are threaded through the sport.

When my mother was sick, I found myself needing to put down in my journals all sorts of things - to try to understand them, and, I think, to try to remember them.

Like my mother before me, I have always been a good speller.