I took a little road trip with Oprah Winfrey this weekend and we had some good, deep talks about life. "You do not get what you want in life," she told me. "You get what you intend." I listened, fascinated, as she told me all about her own journey -- how she saw her grandfather's [...]
Among all the things there are to admire about Senator John McCain's 106-year old mother Roberta -- her longevity, her wanderlust, her passion for education, the decades-long gin rummy game she maintained against her twin sister Rowena -- this maternal wisdom she passed along to her son might be the best: “She taught me to [...]
Everyone has a Christmas Camelot -- that magical moment when you look around a room filled with all the people you love and your heart swells so big it nudges the tear ducts in your eyes. This year, our Christmas Camelot happened midway through the holidays on a frigid Thursday in Cecil, Wisconsin. Smoke curled [...]
She drove my car way more often than I did this summer, and borrowed my clothes as a matter of course. "Hey, is that my...?" I'd asked. "Yes, it is!" she'd answer cheerfully as she headed out the door. She left coffee grounds in her press on the kitchen counter and piled shoes by the [...]
My mother traveled more than 2,000 miles to celebrate her grandson's birthday, but the real indication of how much she wanted to be a part of Charlie's 30th celebration happened after she got to Manhattan. That's when Grandma Peggy, lifelong germaphobe and avoider of big crowds and closed spaces, rode the New York Subway. Start [...]