Love

My first year in college I met a fellow who was a couple years older... I was dazzled by his attention—so dazzled that I couldn’t see clearly, couldn’t see him at all

Donna Martino stuck a photograph from the newspaper of a handsome kayaker on her fridge. A few months later, Donna matched with the guy on a dating website, and they decided to go out. This story is about what happens when two strangers take a chance on each other.

What I most want for Christmas is for someone to say, “Tell me about your mom.” It might be the gift everyone was waiting for, that invitation: Just tell me.”

Love is never wasted.

As a child, I was taught to say a prayer every night before bed, the one that begins with, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” At the end, I asked God to bless various people, starting with my parents, of course, and (somewhat reluctantly) my baby brother... These days, I have a different but similar ritual.

Years ago, a friend asked me, “What did you wish you had for the journey that you didn’t have?” She meant the journey of life and it’s hard to know what you’ll need when you start out.

This week the astrological love omens are on high alert, given that the gracious planet Venus is catching up with expansive Jupiter in the evening sky. We could just say that their meeting on Thursday will make for a great date night, and leave it at that, but I’m interested in the longer narrative.

The poetry of the morning sky is undeniable this week, as the Moon descends through the dawn in the spectacular company of Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

If we can't talk about love stories on Valentine's Day, when can we? Which is why today seemed appropriate to talk to Horizon Books , right there on...