In Manhattan where I lived in my early twenties, I was once dared by my housemate to go to the store in my pajamas. Never one to back down from a dare, I went. I remember how exhilarating it felt, as I turned my attention away from projecting what people might be...

The first time my daughter showed me her creative sense of humor, she was six months old. SIX MONTHS OLD! I was sitting her up on the bed and trying to get her to hold her arms high enough over her head so I could put a shirt on her. Just as I was about to get it on...

It was a scorching August day in NYC, and my young daughter and I were in Manhattan visiting relatives. We got on a subway car without air conditioning, and it was like entering an oven. People were complaining. Having been a New Yorker myself for my first 25 years, I...