CULTURE
Review of The Wisdom of Sam, by Daniel Gottlieb, PhD
Nonfiction seldom reads as a page turner, conveying such warmth, such insight, that, although you can’t directly identify with the plight of the protagonists, you’re drawn into their circle, and you benefit from their struggles, feeling one with them and all of humanity (much like reading a good novel). Such, though, is case with Dr. Daniel Gottlieb’s real-life reflections in The Wisdom of Sam: Observations on Life from an Uncommon Child. . . .

COUPLES
Speed Demon Meets Mr. Slow Ride
When I was dating my husband—all starry-eyed and flushed with relief that it was possible for a woman over 50 to find love again—our driving styles were the last thing on my mind. As time has gone by, the adrenaline rush of “new marriage, new season of life” has worn off and the less visible irks exposed by living together are beginning to unfold. One small, tiny irk is my consternation over our different driving habits. . . .

GENERATIONS
Mall Wars: Senior Delinquent
One day, while enjoying a cup of coffee at the mall with my friend and fellow empty-nester Chester, I was amazed to overhear this diatribe coming from a teenage boy sitting at a nearby table: “As a school-attending, part-time-job-holding ordinary teenager, I’m stuffed to the max with all those wrinklies who never stop whining about how all of us teens are little better than hoodlums . . .”

FAMILY
Want Some Empty-Nesting Fun? Borrow Your Nieces
My nieces Malinda and Rachel live in Tampa. We live in Philadelphia. Guess how many times we’ve seen them during their young lives? So many times that I can count them on one hand, and that’s a shame. When my own girls moved out and I had time to catch my breath, one goal I had was to spend more time with our nieces and nephews. All except the Tampa crowd live in the northeastern U.S., so getting together with most of them was easy—over holidays, for graduations, and just for fun. Seeing Malinda and Rachel was another story, though. This was going to take some work. . . .

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