KATHY: My teenage years were defined by a weird mix of freedom and loneliness. I was finally old enough to be home alone . . . yet the empty house felt so quiet and lonely. On weekends when my parents were working, I started visiting my relatives, mostly to avoid sad, solo dinners. I’ll never forget one particular night I spent with my dad’s little sister, my frugal aunt. She lived in this tiny SRO, where the dinner table was squeezed so tight between the kitchen and her be
