Nancy Wurtzel

Over the years my daughter has given me an array of wonderful Mother's Day gifts. When she was little, they were all handmade items like sweet cards and pictures, decorated wooden boxes and hand-strung jewelry. I've kept them all. They are treasures beyond value, and each one brings a smile...

Divorce brings up all sorts of emotions, and sometimes people find themselves acting a little crazy. Those who have ended marriages have their own personal divorce story -- some are sad, some are scary and some are just plain funny.

My slightly twisted divorce tale starts when I had been...

I first noticed signs of my mother's dementia during a trip home to Minnesota. I remember feeling panicked. You see, my dad had Alzheimer's disease and needed full-time care for more than five years. That long, awful journey took a terrible toll on him as well as my mom, who...

I'm coming clean and you are the first to know.

Early this morning I awakened in a full panic. I had a dream and it was crystal clear. It was scary, outlandish, highly disturbing, and yet...

In my twisted dream, I was married to Newt Gingrich -- yes, The Newt...

Every good dog has his day, and Seamus Romney is finally feeling his alpha male oats. Seamus, the long-deceased Irish Setter who belonged to presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, became famous for one of the Romney family's annual summer road trips which took place more than 25 years ago. The 12-hour...

The Roman Catholic church is a force unto itself in central Minnesota. You can turn on the television at any time of day and find a Catholic Mass being said, a nun being interviewed or lay people talking about church activities.

My father was Roman Catholic and very devout. When...

Dear Reader,

I've taken to signing my emails and other correspondence "Warmly, Nancy." Sadly, it's all too true. Even though it is cold outside, I am warm much of the time. Hot, actually.

Mostly, it is my own internal midlife climate control that is hopelessly out of whack. I'm in...

Do you ever feel as though you are moving backward instead of forward? With all the hoopla leading up to the Oscars telecast this Sunday, backward is exactly what I'm feeling.

Let me explain.

When I was a kid growing up in Central Minnesota, I was totally obsessed with the...

Oh, I feel so much better. I just found out the being overweight isn't my fault at all -- my Mom is to blame. It's such a relief to know that the pie, cookies, chocolate and draft beer that I consumed, or my lack of exercise isn't the real reason...

As I watched Mimi Alford make the media rounds, I couldn't help think about another women who was infatuated with our 35th president.

She told me about it in the fall of 1981. We were sitting in a cozy, upscale Italian restaurant in Westwood.

At the next table an...

My involvement with breast cancer fundraising goes back a long time. Twelve years ago I trained extensively and raised more than $12,000 to take part in two consecutive 3-Day walks in Los Angeles -- trekking 60 miles from Santa Barbara to Malibu.

The first year, I walked in soaking wet...