Our lives are shaped as much by those who leave us as they are by those who stay. Loss is our legacy. Insight is our gift. Memory is our guide

Writers seek to create order out of the chaos of everyday life, and to extract meaning from both the tragic and the mundane

When a mother dies, a daughter’s mourning never completely ends.

Someone did us all a grave injustice by implying that mourning has a distinct beginning, middle, and end.

Our mothers are our most direct connection to our history and gender.

I couldn't chance failing in New York yet, letting the city fail me. It was the only place I knew I belonged. If I couldn't survive there, I would have no place else to go.

New York City is filled with random, quirky moments like this, chance collisions that just might change your life.

Maybe I was in love with the idea of love.

It’s only a scratch, don’t cut my arm off!

That in itself made her a little intriguing and enticing. A woman who doesn't know her own potential for passion

The result [Republicans winning the Senate] would be devastating for reproductive choice, the environment, civil liberties, Social Security and health care, as well as corporate accountability.

Religion and politics are supposed to be separate.

To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters.

Being dead is being weak and walled off.

We need safe communities that are free from methamphetamine and a federal commitment to stand next to state leadership and law enforcement in the fight against this epidemic.

I'd like to get all the colors in the world into one painting

I'm a little bit of a weirdo - I'm kind of a loner, I didn't go to college, I spend a lot of my time reading. I've been working since I was 17, so that's sort of been my life.