Being succinct is a skill I’ve been honing since I was about seven years old. It means that not only can I deliver a bit of news without burying the lead, but that I can cut right to the chase of complicated and tangled situations.

When our parents would ask about how school was that day, or how was the movie, I found it to be a fun game to give – sometimes, no more than a sassy one-word answer and at other times, no less than a full-on dissertation. The parents rarely tolerated this. You had to deliver the exact information my folks wanted to know, in 25 words or less. For real!

A common saying in The Young household when I was growing up…

Sometimes people have characterized this as direct and to the point. If I am under stress — prolonged, profound stress — it may be called abrupt, or even curt, (maybe even bordering on rude!) to some. Others, who tend to appreciate my brevity, perhaps understand where I am coming from. For this I am grateful, for it is a hard thing to unlearn.