Once, while we were flying, my daughter leaned over and whispered, “

Dad, I think I just got my period.”

I gave her the emergency pad I always keep with me,

and she hurried to the restroom. A few minutes later,

the flight attendant came by and said,

“Sir, your daughter asked if you have a real pad.

She said you gave her a liner.

”I turned bright red — I didn’t even know there was a difference! Luckily,

a kind woman sitting nearby offered her own.

When my daughter returned, she thanked both of us and told me,

“Next time, bring both.”

And now I always do.

2.My best friend’s wife dropped their youngest child off at school one day and never came back.

Ten years have passed,

and the only contact has been through lawyers.

She refuses to speak to him or the kids directly.

He says the hardest part wasn’t raising the kids alone —

it was constantly having to explain to people why he was doing it alone.

Even his own family questioned what he might have done to “make her leave.2