But When My Mother Died, I Found

Grief Is A Bad Moon, A Sleeper Wave. It's Like Having An Inner Combatant, A Saboteur Who, At The Slightest Change In The Sunlight, Or At The First Notes Of A Jingle For A Dog Food Commercial, Will Flick The Memory Switch, Bringing Tears To Your Eyes.

We Have An Idea - A Very Modern Idea - That Dying Is Undignified. But I Think This Is Because We Have The Illusion That We Can Control Our Bodies And Our Fates.

My Whole Life, I Had Been Taught To Read And Study, To Seek Understanding In Knowledge Of History, Of Cultures.

Faith Does Help Mourners Survive Their Loss, Some Studies Suggest; But I Imagine One Still Struggles.

It's All Too Easy When Talking About Female Gymnasts To Fall Into The Trap Of Infantilizing Them, Spending More Time Worrying More About Female Vulnerability Than We Do Celebrating Female Strength.