"I grew up being told that I could do anything I wanted, so I became a doctor. Two years ago, when I had my son, River, I worked part-time. But now I'm pursuing a full-time fellowship. I get subtle messages from people about whether I'm doing the right thing, but I've never gotten a double message from my mom. When I was feeling guilty about leaving my son, she reminded me that she had left me to get her master's. And I don't even remember that! In fact, in my memory she was always around. But she was also busy being a psychiatric nurse, then getting a master's in family therapy, then another in music. It was important to her, and now it's important to me, to have something beyond the family, even if it means stretching a bit."
— Stephanie Pappadis, M.D., 33, an internist in Boston, and Hershy Pappadis, 61, a psychiatric nurse in Chicago

"Start packing as soon as you know you are moving."
— Barbara Marshall, 49, a homemaker in Lakeville, Connecticut, to Jen Marshall, 30, a book publicist in Williamsburg, Massachusetts