"I have reached a certain age. Each spring, the invitations arrive in the mail. Dates are saved, accommodations booked, gifts and attire selected."

"An ex-figure skater, I swapped my leotards for a jersey at thirteen; at my first hockey practice, I kept rolling off the rounded toe of my new skates. My new, black skates—how transgressive."

"For several years, I wrote from my bedroom. I couldn’t write until I’d made the bed and picked up all the dirty socks."