A song can’t bring someone all the way back, but sometimes three minutes is enough. If you grew up in the 1980s and went to a school dance, you knew exactly what it meant when “Stairway to Heaven” came on. The night was over. Or almost over. The DJ had one last trick. Parents were waiting outside. The gym lights were still low enough to make everyone look a little better than they did in English. And if you were lucky, you had eight minutes to hold someone close and pretend you weren’t...

Written by Mark J. Resnick Each week, each day, each hour can feel like a long exhale that never quite ends when you’re a caregiver. It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes it’s just the steady drip of it. The calendar that looks like a game of Tetris. The phone calls you can’t ignore. The mental checklist you keep running even while you’re brushing your teeth. The way your body stays half-on, even when you’re technically sitting down. And if you don’t have something that fuels you, you burn out....

This weekend, I had a long stretch of driving and train time—enough hours to think about 2026 and what I want the next chapter of my life to look like. There were podcasts in my ears, moments of quiet reflection, and yes, a nap or two. Even when my body slowed down, my mind didn’t. It kept circling the same thoughts. There were flashes of excitement—those moments when you imagine a life with more space, more purpose, more peace. And then there were moments of doubt that followed right behind...