What Is Punctuation For?

I was a novice editor, he was an experienced writer, and the first article he turned in revealed a virtuosic command of comma placement. He opened with long, slow clauses; picked up speed with shorter ones; withheld all commas for a gloriously terse thesis statement; and then, crash! A mass-casualty pileup of appositive phrases. Grammarians, I married him. Now our son is the family authority on punctuation. His expertise lies in using it in texts and on social media, where commas and periods go…