On this hot hot day in New York, the Times Op-Ed has a sweet meditation from our friend Jessica Helfand--a little taste from her upcoming book, "Scrapbooks: An American History."

As I read, I soon become immersed in her life, putting the pieces together from the multiple fragments she left behind. her scrapbook is packed with telegrams, photographs, love letters, invitations and newspaper clippings, hair ribbons and candy wrappers. A regular fixture on the society pages of the local newspapers, she led a life filled with parties and dances and teas and luncheons, many given in her honor during the summer of 1920. Come autumn, she was to set sail for a year in Switzerland, to attend finishing school.

And then something shocking happened: on June 8, during a bridal dinner for her cousin edward, given at the home of elinor’s parents, there was a robbery.

Go get the PDF's here (choose the "all summer months together" one)