Sarah Friedman:  

Life I live in Mill Valley California, the most beautiful place in the U.S. In a very Mill Valley kind of way. My two sons are in college (Oberlin and Bucknell) so I'm here in peaceful splendor with my best friend, Ashley, a border collie/something mix. I've been a chronic helping professional for over 20 years. I worked with homeless families in New York, then with infants and toddlers with disabilities in both southern and northern California. If it sounds "tough" or "rewarding" or in any way saintly, it's really not. Mostly, it's fun. I sit on the floor playing with babies and hanging out with their parents. If nothing else, I give the kids an hour and a half of fun, and the parents a shoulder to lean on. Good enough for me. And maybe sometimes I make a bohhrt difference, but I don't count on it. My motto is that I can get along with anyone - as long as they're under three. (Excuse bad grammar, but I've tried it with the correct wording and it just doesn't flow - "as long as he or she is under three?" Doesn't sound like fun anymore). Usually I get along with the adults in their lives, too. But truth be told, I'm always happy to come home and cozy up with my dog and be out of the fray of social engagement - a very euphemistic term for being out there in an often cold and scary world. Even here in Marin County, the home of the "human potential" movement, hot tubs, and Ram Dass (who grew up in Newton, by the way - he went to elementary school with my mother). Who knew I was really...Expand for more