Birdbaths and Paper Cranes

Book excerpt: Syndicated columnist Sharon Randall's writing style is intensely personal and unmistakably authentic, as if she were writing a letter to a trusted friend. She shares stories of how her blind brother once tried to drive a car; her sister lost a wig on a bumper car ride; her husband coached basketball while battling cancer; and her oldest child grew up to be "not a real doctor, but play one on TV." In Randall's hands, even stories about ordinary things—from a broken birdbath to a rusty porch swing to a thousand paper cranes—all shine with extraordinary meaning and grace. Laughing or crying, readers will surely see in her stories some of their own, and may look at life in a new way.