My father was an immigrant who came to the United States when he was 15 years old. As he did not speak a word of English, he joined the kindergarteners in learning the language. Each …

For those of you who have read Brain Drain, you remember the chapter that started with a dialogue from the popular Seinfeld episode about George doing the opposite and finding success. In the same episode, …

I grew up in a typical blue collar Midwest City where working hard and playing hard was a way of life.  Men were expected to toughen up when times got rough and plow through them.  …

I taught school for a dozen years and loved every one of them. But the day came when I realized I had done everything I could with my job and had no more to give. …

“There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the …

J.C. writes in: I know everyone says that people grieve in their own way. I just need to know that I am ok. My grandmother helped raise me. A couple weeks after I graduated from …

“Departures” is the story of Daigo Kobayashi, a passionate cellist with a dream job in an orchestra, who finds himself abruptly out of job — and in huge debt for a very pricey cello — …

Millions of people have lost their jobs in this economy, so let’s talk about managing the stress of a job search.  Anyone who is in this situation, or loves someone who is, might consider these …

We recommend “Departures,” the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, currently in theaters. “Departures” is a moving, inspiring glimpse into Japan’s cultural heritage of caring for a body after death.
When a young cellist …

By Abel Keogh –
Ever since my late wife died, I’ve had a hard time reading fiction where the main character is a widow or widower. Though the authors try hard, most of them don’t do …

March 5, 2009
The Editors, New York Times
Katherine S. Newman, professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University, is author of “The Missing Class.”
Twenty years ago, when I first started studying middle class downward mobility, …

Hannah writes in I buried my only son last year. But my story starts way before that. He was a Marine, he left as soon as he graduated. He did two tours in Iraq …

By Eric Tomei —
One of the reasons I love my job is that we talk about food all the time. If we are not talking about food, we are eating food, planning …

By Sandra Pesmen –
It’s possible that as a widow, you suddenly need to find a job, or upgrade the one you have for more pay and benefits. In either case, remember that your old resume …

By Abel Keogh — It’s hard to find a movie that effectively deals with the subject of grief. Occasionally however, there’s one that really deals with the subject in a realistic way. The most recent …

I believe that early on, I reached an intellectual understanding that my wife and I were dealing with grief differently. When I was up, she was down. When I was down, she was up. When …