Suprise Me

Connection is the lifeblood of civilization, I think. It has become more apparent in the past year when we have been so separated from one another because of the pandemic. Loneliness, grief, depression have made life all but intolerable for so many of us. I am someone who enjoys her own company, but I do… Read More

I wish I had been able to be with him to tell him I loved him and hold his hand. I will always regret not being there for that final farewell. Read More

Naval Funeral My friends Tippy and Toppy had the fabled attention span of goldfish.  Whenever I made eye contact with them,   they’d meet my gaze for just a few seconds and then they’d turn away – as if they had bigger fish to fry. But they were dearly beloved friends and always  there for… Read More

Fear of the Other I’m a white woman who for years worked in a public high school in New York’s inner city –  in fact in the infamous south Bronx of Fort Apache fame. I usually carpooled to work with fellow teachers  but at times took the subway from my upper east-side Manhattan neighborhood .  As… Read More

Country Living Although I grew up in a house,  most of my adult life I’ve been a Manhattanite and an apartment dweller.  (See The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Cooking with Gas) However over the years we did spend many wonderful summers in rented houses at the beach.   Our stays were hassle-free,  and… Read More

Stay-at-Home Mom I was a young stay-at-home mom when we moved to Manhattan with our 9-month-old baby boy – a perfect confluence of time,  place,  and circumstance!   (See Aruba Nights,  Chagall’s Cows,  The Alphabet Wall,  and Reading with Hattie, and Baking with Julia) In those early years Noah and I spent lots of time in… Read More

My mother was our Blue Bird leader. As such, she went out of her way not to show favoritism…so much so that when we put on a little production of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I was cast as one of the rats. Read More

On my 70th birthday my brother welcomed me to my eighth decade! While he was accurate, that declaration gave me pause. The summer after my senior year in high school I was in a local show, written, directed and produced by friends (including two who went on to conceive MyRetrospect decades later). There was some… Read More

Don’t try to brush aside a death in the family. It won’t work. Read More

Television came to our house late in the form of a used 10-inch Motorola with a cabinet as big as the Ritz. Sunday night was family night. Except for dinner, we weren’t big on family rituals but Sunday night was an exception. I’d be called inside to watch “The Ed Sullivan Show” (with varied interest… Read More