The day after Alex Pretti’s death, I sat down with a cup of coffee beside a woman who was finishing her lunch. When I mentioned my shock over the young man’s killing, she said she’d heard the news on NPR and found the incident too upsetting to discuss.   A book she was reading

When I was in high school, I had a counselor who referred to me as her late bloomer.  I suppose it was because I never had a date in those days, though I had friends enough.  At least, I seldom sat alone at lunch in the school cafeteria. Even so, I’ve never felt in sync wi