When I was a recent college graduate, I took a job with a major cell phone carrier. After 9/11, more people than I could count came into my office in tears, wondering if there was a way to retrieve voice mail messages even though the phones (much like the people to whom they belonged) were [...]

It was unseasonably warm for April, and the late evening breeze was heavy and damp. She stopped for a moment behind my car, closing her eyes and turning her face to the starless sky. I watched her in silence, fascinated by the sight of her unabashedly enjoying the spring air. It was a rare, unguarded [...]

As I took the podium, I reminded myself that I could hold it together for the eulogy—that I could do this to honor the man who’d done everything for me. I took a deep breath and stared out into the sea of faces before me. Some were tear-stained and others stoic, but all were waiting [...]

I’m sick in bed and reading reviews, and I see one question coming up again and again. Why did you do it? The death of Carlisle (Whit in my head) was always in my outline. Though it does give Edward a sense of urgency, that had been brewing beneath the surface for a while by [...]

Ultimately, it wasn’t the attending surgeon, my mother’s screams, or the grief counselor who convinced me that my father was gone. It was the sight of my mother raising his ring to her lips before placing it on a chain around her neck. The visual of my father’s wedding band resting next to the crucifix [...]

The oldest trees on Princeton’s campus are a pair of sycamores that were planted to commemorate the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. I know, I know. I could have used any deciduous trees to indicate the passing of time and the changing seasons. In fact, in early drafts I used elm trees, which [...]