Alas, my husband and I have become predictable. My younger self would be appalled by our comfortable routines. We eat at the same restaurants, get together with the same people, and follow the same schedules week after week. Even our retirement purchases mirrored those of other people our age, ...

My husband, Bill, utters the dreaded words, “I’ll go to the grocery store with you.” I stifle a groan. I know he is either bored or thinks he is being helpful. “If I come along, it will be quicker.” He has already placed the bags in the car and turned on the ignition before I ...

Our youngest child graduates from high school this week. We should be ready; we’ve been through this milestone twice before. This time, though, it’s different. There isn’t a younger sibling waiting in the wings, demanding our attention, or needing our care. This year of senior events was ...

There are two handwritten entries and one photo in my baby book. My aunt took the photo, not my parents. I was the third child, and I took this lack of documentation as a sign that my arrival wasn’t important. I mentioned the sole picture in my baby album to my mother the other day. Her ...

The student flung herself dramatically into the chair. “I can’t believe it. Mr. Stephen’s dogs are out!” “They’re loose? Does he need someone to watch his class? Is he leaving school to find them?” She looked at me as if I was speaking an indecipherable language. She spoke ...

The teacher’s pets would be called up to her desk. They, in turn, would pass out the precious gray and turquoise newsprint workbooks. This would signal the best part of the fourth-grade curriculum — map skills. Compass rose, mileage scales, longitude and latitude: Each new bit of ...