“Show, don’t tell” is one big commandment of writing. Telling is super boring: “The left fielder had a strong arm.” You want a writer to show you the scene:...
Family
Kevin and Amy have a rule at their dinner table for their three teenagers as well as themselves: What is said at the table stays at the table. “Our family...
I went to Spain so I wouldn’t need to make any decisions. Liam, our 20-year-old, is spending this semester studying in Spain, and two of my friends offered to...
When I was in eighth grade I was what I like to call a standard achiever. To me this meant doing the amount of work needed to get where I wanted to be and no...
Parents who want their children to grow in appreciation for and commitment to Mass are much like parents who are determined to make sure their kids go off to...
I was making dinner last January, my then-3-year-old following me around the kitchen like an insistent cat in want of food, when he asked me a question I...
My family is best understood through our use of language. Weekly hour-long phone conversations. The notes I would throw down the stairs after I was sent to...
As a child I attended a K–8 Catholic school and went to church with my family every Sunday. For me, Mass was a thing to get through so that we could go home...
On the day when everything changed, I woke up determined to go into the office. This was not my normal routine for Saturdays, and I could not figure out what...
It was 1994, a year in my life best represented by Doc Martens and dark red lipstick. But it was also the year my best friend married young and had a baby...
