How I hate contests. I hate them because they divide people into winners and losers and there are always more losers than winners, more people walking away with their heads bowed than with their heads held high.

Maybe I'd feel differently if I had been the first kid always picked for a team. But from Red Rover to kickball to softball, I never was…

They all come back. Every time there's another delay in the still pending drunk driving legislation. Every time someone shrugs off drinking and driving as something everyone does. Every time some judge who should know better treats drunk drivers as good guys who've slipped up a little, but didn't really mean to do anything wrong. Then, every parent…

Normally, he is like Henry Higgins: an "ordinary man, even-tempered and good-natured whom you'd never hear complain, who has the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein." But let the Bruins in his life …

And my husband becomes a wild man. Here's a guy who is generally unflappable. We miss a plane to Lincoln, Nebraska because someone read…

The dress was in a Filene's bag, upstairs, in my bedroom, on top of the ironing board. I bought it Saturday, brought it home, tried it on, didn't like it and was planning on returning it. It never occurred to me that someone would actually come into my room, steal the bag and leave the dress behind.

But this is exactly what…

I bought her bright blue stretch pants and a bright blue flowered blouse to match. My mother never wore stretch pants. Still, she put them on and left the house.

'How come you don't wear your new outfit to work, Mom…

Another year passes, another begins. Amy died 10 years ago today, in her mother's arms, struggling to stay alive even at the end. Every breath meant another few minutes of everything she knew, everyone she loved.' I want you to come with me,' she whispered to her mother as death approached. 'I wish I could, sweetie,' her mother said holding her, holding to her. 'But this is something you have to do …

Normally, he is like Henry Higgins an 'ordinary man, even-tempered and good-natured whom you'd never hear complain, who has the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein.' But let the Bruins in his life . . .

And my husband becomes a wild man. Here's a guy who is generally unflappable. We miss a plane to Lincoln, Neb., because someone read the ticket wrong and he actually says, 'Hey. What's the big deal. We'll fly to Omaha and rent a car. It'll be an adventure…

I didn't notice when the letters stopped. Why didn't I? That's what I wonder now. They arrived regularly for four, five, maybe six years. They were funny and earnest and filled with wisdom and advice. I looked forward to them. They made me smile. In the beginning I answered every one, though not fast enough for Chuck. He called me a terrible pen pal so…

'We read to know that we are not alone.'

The celebrated British author and lecturer, C.S. Lewis, whose life is depicted in the movie 'Shadowlands,' must have said these words often for they are repeated throughout the film 'We read to know that we are not alone…

I say it every time they leave the house Don't drink and drive. I don't know if they hear me. I say it so often it's background noise. The only words I say more often are 'I love you.' They're 22 and 24 my oldest children. They go out. They socialize. They drink. We all do. I go out. I socialize. I drink…

I never kissed my father goodbye without thinking that it might be the last time I would see him. I always knew his job was dangerous. He once shot out the tires of a robber speeding away. It was written up in a newspaper. My mother saved the clipping, and I used to look at it and wonder what would have happened if the robber had shot back? What would life have been like if my father had been killed…

Easter is an old-fashioned day. Nothing equals it anymore. The stores are closed and people actually get dressed up for church. Women wear hats. Little girls wear dresses. Boys put on shoes instead of sneakers, men put on sports coats and ties, and all the babies look like expensive new dolls.

After church, families get…

'He taught us so much more about life than he did about death.'

This is what the mother of 21-month-old Kyle Fitzpatrick said this week, after her son succumbed to a 10-month battle with leukemia.

He taught us more about life than he did about death. The words stand out because they come from a woman who might just as easily have screamed…

The thing I always liked about Easter, the holiday, as opposed to Easter the holy day, was its simplicity. It was like the season it landed in, fine all by itself. It didn't need to be dressed up the way Christmas is. It didn't need bright lights and tinsel and bold colors like red and gold and green. Easter was pastels and cotton dresses…

The story made the 17-year-old choke on her Corn Flakes. 'This is gross. This is disgusting. Did you read this? It's horrible.' Indeed it was. It was 'Pet Semetary' come to life, the true tale of a dog that died, was buried and rose from the dead. Except Brownie didn't really die. His owner ran over him and the dog looked dead, so

It's seasonal. The snow melts, the sun shines, the ground softens, and it happens. It's as predictable as hay fever. One day I'm going about my business living my life like a normal human being; and then, the first of the garden catalogs arrives in the mail and I get obsessed. It's a kind of spell, I know, but while it lasts, I feel like Snow White…

The story made the 17-year-old choke on her Corn Flakes. 'This is gross. This is disgusting. Did you read this? It's horrible.'

Indeed it was. It was 'Pet Semetary' come to life, the true tale of a dog that died, was buried and rose from the dead. Except Brownie didn't really die. His owner ran over him and the dog looked dead, so she buried him in a field near her New Mexico home and then….