The older I get, the more I realize how much I don’t know. But there’s one thing I know for sure. — No one ever died wishing they’d worked more, she said, rightness written all over her pretty face. Dig taken. I don’t know, I said. No one ever died wishing they’d watched one more episode of Friends, either I say and she rolls her eyes. No one ever died wishing they’d…

Nineteen Steps is based in a WWII tragedy Milly Bobby Brown’s grandmother survived. — In 1943, a woman tripped and fell in a stairwell. It was like dominoes, after that, people rushing in the doors, only to fall over each other in the dimly lit stairwell. They were just trying to get into the bomb shelter. Air raid sirens were going off again and…

I run 3 publications. Here are some tips on what gets boosted. — I’ve been part of Medium’s boost program since spring. If you’re not familiar with the program, it means I get to nominate stories to the curators who decide if a story gets boosted. Frankly, I need more strong writers and storytellers to nominate. My publications are small, which doesn’t matter…

If I deleted you, don’t panic. Plus, call for writers who love books — Y’all — The Book Café is changing in a big and exciting way. It’s not just for book reviews anymore. The Book Café is part of Medium’s Boost Beta program, and while it’s exciting to nominate posts and help writers get more views — not everyone can read fast enough…

Please take him off your list, the email said. He died. — When David Bowie sang Space Oddity back in the seventies, I was a child. Standing on a wooden chair probably, helping mom wash dishes, oblivious to an orange-haired man singing about floating in space. It’s stuck in my head, that song, and I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s just…

God I love crusty old women who’ve lost their filters. — When mom was in her fifties or sixties she went to the pool with her grandkids and wore a bathing suit in public for the first time. Not even kidding. She’d never done that before, because she’d had eight kids and stretch marks don’t fool around, if you know what…

We get it so beautifully right when our beloved pets leave and mess up so bad when it’s people. — Mom called the day she moved into the senior’s home. I’d been worried about her. Leaving the house she raised us in. A lifetime of memories. She was stubborn and wanted to do it herself. So I waited, visiting ghosts of yesterday with a lump in my throat. When the…

71% of Americans don’t agree with banning books, but the hateful minority is screaming louder — I was walking from the parking lot to the PRIDE parade with my kid on a beautiful summer day in June when some butt-ugly biker revving his bike at a red light screamed at us. How does it feel to be a f*cking pedophile, he screamed over the racket of…

This memoir is tragic, funny and heartbreaking. Now also a movie starring Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and Brie Larson. — Jeannette Walls was in a taxi going to a New York business party when she saw her mom on the street. Her mom was dumpster diving, rags around her shoulders to keep her warm while her little dog played by her feet. Her mom’s hair was matted and streaked with…