A gray sweater hung limply on Tommy’s empty desk, a reminder of the dejected boy who had just followed his classmates from our third-grade room. Soon Tommy’s parents, who had re- cently separated, would arrive for a conference on his fail

I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the arena with the friend and that was it! I was horse crazy. From then on, I