A Daily Embrace

My father worked 12 hours a day, five days a week. I missed him each second he was away. Every night when he would come home, I would run into his arms. Years passed. Cancer forced him to retire, then bound him to a bed, while I had to work. He died eight years ago. Now I work from home. My son is almost 3. He spends six hours at day care, five days a week. I miss him each second he is away. When he comes home, I now run to him. — Brian J. Roberts

Bonded for Life

I donated my kidney for the same reason anyone donates their kidney: to lose weight. That’s not true, obviously. I donated my kidney because my childhood best friend’s mother needed a kidney, I was a match and that was that. But before the donation, the hospital’s transplant coordinator called my best friend’s mother to tell her that I am gay. They asked her if she knew and if that was OK. She did know and it was OK, obviously. She now lives happily with my kidney. And I live happily with my husband, Andrew, a nurse who helped me heal. — Joel Shoemaker

Drawn Together

I met Nicholas at a Super Bowl party in 2006. He had just come back from a DJ gig. I was a single mother with frosted eye shadow and a healthy skepticism about men. Our mutual friend invited us to the party and introduced us, believing that we would be a match. While others shouted at the TV, Nicholas and I talked, discovering our mutual ambivalence toward football and love of the Comedy Central show “Drawn Together.” Seventeen years later, we’re married with four children. Every Super Bowl, our prescient friend reminds us who we have to thank. — Jordana Taylor

Willing to Share

Growing up, my twin brother, Jon, and I shared just about everything. But sharing wasn’t always fun, especially as he garnered attention from my girlfriends. Occasionally, they would date, which would get awkward and destroy my friendships. I thought that when Jon and I moved to separate colleges, my friends would finally be entirely my own. But on a trip to visit me, he met and eventually fell in love with Tanya, my best friend and roommate. Now, she and I are sisters-in-law. Sharing my friend made us family and there’s nothing more fun than that. — Suzie Glassman

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