Rose to the
occasion
ZELDA SKIPPER’S husband, John,
passed away 21 years ago. But
there’s not a day that goes by, she
says, when she doesn’t think of him
and the joy of their life together.
And so it happened that on
April 2, 2010, when she was in the
Everett, Washington, Costco, she
decided to celebrate what would
have been their 55th wedding
anniversary by buying herself
some roses.
IN 2009, Northridge, California, Costco
member David M. Perkins faced a
trauma nearly every parent eventually
experiences: the departure of a fledgling from the parental nest. Perkins’
son, Austin, was about to leave for his
freshman year of college.
Embracing his strong feelings,
Perkins turned to his computer to
capture his thoughts in a letter to
his son.
From
father to son
David and
Austin Perkins
John
and
Love stylist
Zelda
Skipper
ACCORDING TO “love stylist” Tristan
Coopersmith, looking for the right mate isn’t
unlike hitting Costco’s sample tables. The
Costco member and author of MENu Dating
(St. Martin’s, 2009) insists that one of the keys
to finding love is to be open to new people,
places and experiences—in effect, sampling
your way to true love.
Coopersmith (http://tristancoopersmith.
com), who works with men and women to help
them create healthy, fulfilling love lives, says
that while the approach to love may be different
in a person’s 20s, 30s or 40s, a few basic truths
transcend age.
Los Angeles–based Coopersmith, who is
married to former hockey player Jason Doig,
emphasizes having realistic expectations and
enjoying a cup of coffee with someone new.
Ask yourself if you feel happier around that
person—could you be friends with him or her?
She encourages everyone in the dating
world to be open to new people and places, and
to avoid settling. “Stay positive about love and
believe that it can happen to you,” she says. “The
next one could be the one.”—Stephanie E. Ponder
JOHN RUSSO
“I sat down for about four days
and just wrote sort of stream of
consciousness without thinking and
without editing,” he recalls. “And
then when I was done, when I finally
had written everything I could think
of to write, I looked at it and it was
the most confusing bundle of crap I
had ever seen.”
Perkins edited and rearranged the
20 pages he had pounded out until he
had six pages, single spaced.
After he and his wife, Ryan,
moved Austin into his room at school,
Perkins put the letter on his desk and
casually suggested he read it.
David Perkins also shared the let-
ter with a friend, who said, “This is a
book. There are a lot of parents strug-
gling with this kind of issue.” Perkins
says, “It didn’t occur to me what a
common occurrence this is.”
Perkins followed up on his
friend’s thought. Dear Austin: A
Letter to My Son is available as a
book or digital download on Perkins’
website,
www.davidmperkins.com.
Perkins has been asked to speak
at events. His advice if you want to
write a similar missive: “Your kid
does not expect poetry. Just sit down
and write what you feel. Don’t be concerned about grammar and punctuation and eloquence. What it will be is
a piece of paper they hold on to for the
rest of their lives.”—Steve Fisher
