As women, we pride ourselves on having that one best friend that has been with us through thick and thin. We don’t imagine we could ever lose that bond, and when it does happen it’s devastating. Most childhood friendships endure up to college and then fizzle out. The one in which I’m writing about endured so many years—from childhood, through college, through long-distance, past two marriages and three children—and thus,[…]

There’s something about Manhattan in the summertime that has always been a bit of a mystery to me. That acrid smell that hits you, the moment you step off the platform from Penn Station, the steam rising from places in the pavement, vendors hawking hot dogs on every corner, and a slight, yellow pallor that seems to infuse everything. In the summer of 1984 I took the train into the city[…]