We should all have one person who knows how to bless us despite the evidence, Grandmother was that person to me.

one of my earliest joys as a parent lay in knowing that at the end of the day I had once again ushered three babies back to their beds, against the odds, unscathed and peaceful. Happiness was a houseful of safe, inert bodies. Actually, it still is.

Rearing three children is like growing a cactus, a gardenia, and a tubful of impatiens. Each needs varying amounts of water, sunlight and pruning. Were I to be absolutely fair, I would have to treat each child as if he or she were absolutely identical to the other siblings, and there would be no profit for anyone in that.

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere, without moving anything but your heart.

One of the earliest religious disappointments in a young girl's life devolves upon her unanswered prayer for a horse.

there is probably no such thing as an innocent question, at least not when a parent is doing the asking.

To envy is to draw circles that isolate us from others, to take small, bitter trips that diminish the traveler.