BY SEAN DIETRICH There is a little girl in my house. She is 11. She is currently playing piano in my office. She is blind, so she plays by feel. She has no idea what she’s doing on the instrument. But she actually sounds pretty good.I do not have kids. I’m not a smart...

BY SEAN DIETRICH DEAR SEAN:I’m not sure what to do. My teenage son died in an accident three years ago. … A few months ago one of his good friends started hanging out at our house…We’ve become really close. He doesn’t have a very present mother. And I find myself...

He was loading my grocery bags. I’ll call him Michael. He was early twenties, wearing an apron. He has Down syndrome.“How are you today?” he said.“Pretty good,” said I.“So am I!” he said. “I’m doing pretty good, too!”I smiled. “How about that.”The cashier was...

BY SEAN DIETRICH The email came from someone named Paxton.“Dear Sean,” the message began, “my dog died today and I feel like I can’t go on. I know you‘ve lost a dog before. How do you go on without them?”As it happens, I have lost 12 dogs in my life. Twelve sounds...