Ernest is retired from a long corporate career and a recent transplant to Florida. We met as poll workers at a recent special election here in Palm Beach County. It was a primary election, and it was not a busy day at our assigned polling location—meaning there was plenty of time to get to know the other people who had stepped up for a long day of work preserving democracy. It turns out that Ernest is willing to show up for just about anything that promises joy or a sense of adventure. As we...

I went to a baby shower yesterday (cue the oohs and aahs). There were blue balloons, toddlers running in every direction, and one little girl who has no idea how much her world is about to change when her baby brother arrives. Among the adults were family members, longtime friends of the parents, and several colleagues—people who only entered the hosts’ lives in recent years but have become part of their inner circle. They’ve created a community together, one that now includes partners and...

This week my husband and I watched the new documentary about the life of John Candy ( John Candy: I Like Me , on Amazon Prime). With interviews from Mel Brooks, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks, Macaulay Culkin, and many others, the film captures the remarkable warmth that shaped Candy’s life and career. We came for the comedy. We left wishing we had known the man behind it—someone whose legacy extended far beyond his films. The documentary reminded me that legacy is rarely one-dimensional. Yes,...