I attended a beautiful wedding July 4th weekend. The couple, in their early 30s, wondered in their late 20s—would they ever find love? Leslie, the bride, had attended tens of weddings of her large friendship circle. Now, it was her turn to walk down the aisle.

As in many modern weddings, the couple shared with their community their deep sense of love and respect for each other by writing their own vows and sharing their love story. It was touching. Most of us older folks had tears in our eyes. Read more about Nurturing your love to build a strong relationship

I ran into one of my colleagues in the hallway and asked him how he and his family were doing. “Everything’s great,” he replied. “Except now I have a teenager.” I knew immediately what he meant.

When my daughters became teens, everything in our family changed. They didn't want to go on family vacations. They could barely greet me when I came home from work. When we did all go somewhere they were snarky and sarcastic. They came home after school, went to their room, shut their door, and came out only for meals. They stopped talking to us. Read more about Making it through the difficult teenage years

Finally, after making up for this winter’s snow days, school is out and summer is on.

Graduations from kindergarten, 5th grade, 8th grade, high school, and college are over. No more homework, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks, and no more early morning hustle to get everyone to school. Parents get a break from chauffeuring their kids from activity to activity. Everyone can kick back. It’s time to settle into the summer routine. Read more about Setting boundaries for summertime

Earlier this month, my wife and I attended a wonderful performance, “Season Encore,” at the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. It was a retirement celebration for two of their soloists. I hadn’t been to the ballet for a long time and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful leaps, bounds, and spins.

But it was also disturbing.

Most of the women were stick thin and whittled down, while the men had normal, athletic bodies. I get it. There is a classical ballet aesthetic—skinny, long-legged ballerinas. But many of these women looked gaunt, otherworldly, and unhealthy. Read more about Addressing body image issues

When I was 8 years old, my paternal grandmother moved in with our family. My mother, who lost her mom when she was 18, was very close to her mother-in-law. My father was overseas at the end of World War II when my older brother was born. My mother was 21-years-old, with a newborn, and moved in with my grandmother. Living in a multi-generational family wasn't new to her. Read more about Not underestimating the importance of grandparents