Things that make me happy

1. Yesterday, my perpetual insomnia finally caught up with me. In the midst of cooking, I staggered and said, "I can't do this anymore." Then I lay down on the couch and went to sleep for an hour. When I woke up, I found out that Tom had finished making dinner, washed the dishes, done everything. This is how long-married people figure out that they still love each other.

2. This week three friends sent me notes about about their reactions to Same Old Story. Even though this collection has received very few public reviews, I have never had so many serious personal responses to anything I've written. They take the sting out of the generalized ignoring. In fact, they almost make me forget it.

3. Yesterday, my older son's oldest friend turned to me, without irony and with immense sweetness, and said, "Thank you for being my second family."