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“I had forgotten to get married, forgotten to have children, forgotten to make money. After caretaking two older parents, I am now alone in our house, which I own.”

SHUTTERSTOCK/LIGHTSPRING

by Mary Ann D’Urso

“A stone’s throw away from 40, my New York sublet ending, and with not much more than my demure velvet sofa, a suitcase of regrets, and the manuscript I had bled over in my thirties, I headed back to the suburbs and my childhood home.

“I had forgotten to get married, forgotten to have children, forgotten to make money. In our culture, no one views an adult’s move back home as a boon. I was the Hester Prynne of Forest Drive, my Scarlet ‘L’ for Loser strapped to my chest for all the neighbors to see.

“After caretaking two older and full-blooded Sicilian parents, I am now alone in our house, which I own.”

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