We have all come from a woman in some fashion.

I've spent many hours of my life browsing in stores. At 21, I admired clothes I couldn't afford. At 30, I bought them. At 40, I sometimes go simply for the pleasure, of seeing what is new, of learning what counts as beautiful now.

If writing really is empathy, then understanding your place in society might actually help you achieve it.

Summer is meant to be for travel, for exploration, for leisure, but sometimes budgets and schedules dictate otherwise.

I would be happy living on a massive ranch in Montana and not seeing anyone except my friends and family.

I'm glad to take on the role of a domestic because many of your black leaders, your educators, your professionals came from domestic parents who made sacrifices to see that their children didn't go through what they did.

I was the first in my family to go to college, and I waitressed all the way through, using my earnings to pay for a bachelor's degree first and then a master's. I resented classmates who didn't have to work real jobs, the ones who had the luxury of taking unpaid internships that would eventually position them for high-paying careers.

My kids don't call me 'Mom' because I don't want them to. They're Michael's children. It's not that they are not my children, but I had them because I wanted him to be a father.