thought
When I saw two pink lines again, I assumed I would feel relief. Instead, it still felt like I was holding my breath.Trying to conceive became all-consuming.Each month, I tracked everything. My temperature. My symptoms. The timing. I told myself it would give me some sense of control. It didn’t.…
For sixteen years, the same photo has been my Facebook cover. It’s me and my twin boys, Charlie and Thomas, then 3, in matching Australia jerseys, taken before I flew to the 2010 World Cup. I crouched beside them shortly after my marriage ended and promised that when they were…
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Caroline Huber, cofounder and co-CEO of Jones. It has been edited for length and clarity.I started smoking very casually, mostly at parties after I’d had a few drinks. I wasn’t dependent, and it didn’t feel like a problem. I was happy…
Growing up, all I wanted was to leave my rural hometown of Edenton, North Carolina, behind and move to a big city.Alongside a population of less than 5,000, Edenton has one big grocery store and a downtown that really just consists of a single short main street.Almost every bar and…
When I finished university, people would always ask me what I wanted to do. I saw myself eventually moving to London, building a career, and settling down there. A lot of my friends had already done just that, and I thought I’d do the same.I was living with my parents…
The first excursion in my newly purchased camper van — a one-night trip to a national forest a few hours from my home — was nothing short of a debacle. The trip was meant to be a test run on solo van living before I fully took the plunge, and…
Like any other proud family, we celebrated when our 18-year-old daughter was accepted into one of her chosen colleges in February this year. Loading audio narration… She is fiercely independent and has wanted to study outside our home state of New York since middle school.She can’t wait to move into…
“They are training for war in there.” Loading audio narration… That was the text I sent to my friend when I walked out of Barry’s fitness studio in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, DC, for the first time. And several weeks later, I still stand by that.As someone who…
The first time I interviewed at Amazon, I was still on maternity leave. Loading audio narration… I remember feeling prepared but nervous about the whiteboard exercise. I worried that when I stood up to draw boxes and arrows, my shirt might ride up and expose the elastic waistband of my…
Growing up, when I pictured college, I imagined Friday nights straight out of Katy Perry’s “TGIF” music video, freshman year roommates who’d become bridesmaids, and hot dates every Saturday night. Loading audio narration… As a now graduating senior, I can say that instead of the happiest four years of my…
