Every time there is a shooting—yet another shooting—I feel so helpless.

Suddenly it’s August. We’ve had such a fun and more-relaxing-than-usual summer that I would really like to hold onto this season a bit longer.

As we celebrate the feast day of St. Ignatius, here are some of my favorite lessons from the founder of the Society of Jesus.

I’m not very easy to surprise.

Today is my birthday! I just love birthdays. I enjoy everyone’s birthday, of course, but especially mine.

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved to fish. He dreamed about fishing. He talked about fishing. He couldn’t get enough of it—even though he had only caught one fish in three years.

What a vacation it was. We went fishing and explored the area and ate ice cream every day and swam and played.

My sons and I went shopping one afternoon to find a few items for our beach trip, including a sun hat for me.

When we decided to visit Long Island this summer, we did our research. My sister found an ice cream parlor. My husband thought it would be fun to see Sag Harbor. I wanted to go to the Big Duck.

Last weekend we decided—somewhat spontaneously—to head into Manhattan to go to the American Museum of Natural History.