As an immigrant, I appreciated the importance of the Thanksgiving holiday as a uniquely American tradition. Our extended family adapted to the fervor that came with preparations for this holiday.

Back in 2009, I traced the then-new First Lady's family tree back four or five generations on all branches, but of all the ancestors I uncovered, it was a great-great-great-grandmother named Melvina Shields McGruder who captured my attention.

Your brother's children need to know that he is their dad, not their buddy; knowing he is what I refer to as the "captain of the ship" in their family actually deepens their sense of safety and closeness with him.

The most important reason to go to your cousin's wedding is this: If you don't reach for happy times, they will pass you by. And then when you need those memories and connections, you will miss them.

The Last of the Mohicans was made in 1992, just after my mother (the next to the last of my Mohicans) succumbed to cancer. Very much in Chingachgook's moccasins, I am the last, now, of the Boleman-Herrings.