First, “Making the Leap,” by Grant Snider.

Michael Wong, in his very funny and poignant essay “Jack of Hearts,” explains how the idea of magic, as defined by his grandfather, helped him to accept the death of his father and transcend grief.

In a review of Rose McLarney’s poetry collection, Its Day Being Gone, Richard Joines illuminates “grim” and sometimes “wearying realities” of life. After reading McLarney’s poetry, we come to learn that she is “a poet who understands that the beautiful things are difficult, and that we must suffer into truth.”

Lastly, in the Sunday Essay, Ben Tanzer offers us a wonderfully self-aware and conversational story of love, travel, and illness. Making plans is all well and good, Tanzer argues, but sometimes the best plan is to just let go and enjoy the ride.