If there is evidence of suspicious activity, notify the credit reporting agency. You only need to report to one. They will inform the other two.

There is no reason for a retailer to have that information.

They are reasonably inexpensive and can give you peace of mind when disposing of old letters, documents and bank statements that contain highly sensitive information about you and your family.

My life was my life; I would have to stare it down, somehow, and make it work for me.

I took my first creative writing class when I was 24, then went onto to get a graduate degree in poetry. I've sort of never looked back from there.

It gave me a sharp kind of sadness to think that no matter how much I loved him and tried to put him back together again, he might stay broken forever.