It’s Tuesday in Highlands, N.J., and I’m taking Frank the contractor to lunch. He’s been such a great guy. He will rebuild my mother’s little house on the Jersey shore that was awash in the waters of Hurricane Sandy last October. Newly gutted, the house reveals the faded layers of lives that once made the place a home, one pattern atop the last, atop the last, atop the last.

After the failure of a billion-dollar-plus wholesale bakery, a strident presidential election, a celebrated sex scandal (which would not be scandalous in countries less publicly vested in the whereabouts of folks’ dickles), and voter support for same-sex marriage in four states, thoughtful study and analysis of the outcomes is warranted. And what better place to find due consideration of lesson’s learned and key takeaways than in the media. Recent news stories and releases offered the following insights.

Until a few years ago, I had a neighbor named Donna. Widowed well before she was ready, she plodded on, alone in her leaky house, unread mail and remembrances piling up in dusty corners. We invited her to holiday meals, cared for her dying cat, and, when the 2007 wildfire forced our town’s evacuation, she came with us, enjoying a prolonged pajama party in a small, borrowed apartment, raucous with four women.