What’s something that no one knows?

I sometimes have to sing the alphabet aloud to myself to remember which letters come before the others.

What’s the perfect age?

Forty-two. Accomplished, glamorous, with a story and a future.

Guiltiest pleasure?

Reading the Style section of the Sunday New York Times before all of the important stuff.

What makes you laugh?

My fiancé, Jafer, when he pulls his boxers up to his armpits. It’s painfully funny.

What are you really good at?

Creative solutions. As an adolescent, when I wasn’t allowed to buy more miniskirts, I simply stepped into the neck of one of my turtlenecks and tied the arms around my waist. Instant mini!

What was your mother right about?

“Early ripe, early rotten.” It was a common refrain during my junior high and high school years to help me feel a little less dorky compared with the cool girls.

What’s the one thing you’ll never understand?

People who take their living parents for granted.

Something on my mind lately is…

How to accommodate my aging mother in the coming years. Are there modern families with grandmothers living happily in the same house as the rest of the family? Or is that a recipe for disaster?

Your Turn

To read more about what’s on Olivia’s mind, offer advice, or request a questionnaire so you can be considered for a future Real Life column, go to Real Life Community Area.