Four couples sat in the late September air in a wonderful back yard, enjoying drinks and anticipating a delicious dinner. It was just a few weeks before an election that until then we had been sure would re-elect President Obama. Lately, though, the confidence of many of us had been shaken. Mitt Romney was polling pretty well and we were worried. We talked into the night, about volunteering for the Obama campaign, about the incessant email requests for contributions we we

I first wrote about cancer long before I was diagnosed with it. In fact, I wrote several columns about it in one way or another: Breast Cancer Awareness Month, my mom, some friends. Here’s something I said eight years ago in a column about my friend Jean: "Five years cancer-free. It’s the finish line. It’s the big reward that you can’t earn. You either get it or you don’t. In fact, it’s more like the lottery than a reward." Now I have won that lottery. (And Jean is still