“To all the parents in the room — really, this is important for everyone — any child who feels they have been truly loved, even by just one person, will develop tremendous confidence.”

I’m a sucker for Mr. Rogers — always have been and always will be. In honor of his birthday this month (3/20/28), I wanted to share a few of the many ways he spoke to our highest aspirations as parents and as human beings. 1. Fred Rogers cut us some slack, acknowledging how hard parenting […]

Sherwin Nuland was known affectionately as Shep by my family. He and my father were young roommates – physicians-in-training in London in the late 1950s.

In my work with social justice advocates across the world, I’ve noticed that those who are most passionate and committed approach challenges with a heart of compassion.  Which is why I loved writing about Maggie Doyne for Huffington Post this week. Maggie is a 27-year-old woman from NJ who first set off to see the […]

My son turned fourteen last week, and his birthday promised to be one enormous letdown. The year before we had celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, marking this 13th birthday, in grand style.  He surprised the congregation with a hilarious yet meaningful speech about the commandment “Though shalt not covet,” complete with him riffing off the Bruno […]

Many years ago I worked in a drab office full of cubicles where there were no secrets. One morning my colleague poked her head over the divider to tell me that she was having a visitor later that day — her best friend from college who, she confided, had inoperable brain cancer.

This essay was written by a 17-year old in 1938. It’s a passionate look at the 5 things the young man wants from life before he dies … Doing something truly great; friendship; travel; love; and — yes — even sorrow.