A few days ago, I went to a dinner party. Beforehand, the prospect of spending hours with a big group of people, most of whom I had never met, loomed like Mt. Everest. . . .

The morning is still young, and already two people have interrupted me. Each time. . . .

I have a friend whose child is a man now. He has been gone for many long and painful years. . . .

Sometimes, when people close to me are suffering. . . .

Before Tuesday dawned, I imagined it filled with a whole flock of. . . .

Lately, I have been fasting—not from food or drink or chocolate, but from thinking about. . . .