Over the years I’ve found myself in the same embarrassing situation at least three times,  most recently this past December when we got a wedding invitation from friends. Their son was to be married on New Year’s Eve at a lovely Greenwich, Connecticut hotel,  so I knew it would be a gala affair.   And sure… Read More

When my son Noah was in high school the headmaster announced the school would be participating in an exchange program with 20 students from Spain.  The Spanish kids would come to New York for a month,  and at a later date our students would go to Spain.  Families were asked to host and we volunteered.… Read More

I’ve written about all my aunts and uncles before. (See Call Me by Their Names) Here’s more about my wonderful aunt Babs and uncle Paul,  high school sweethearts who met as kids in the Rockaways. Family legend has it that when he was in medical school at NYU,  and Babs was at Skidmore College in upstate… Read More

I’m not the sentimental type,  but when our son outgrew his first pair of baby shoes I decided to have them bronzed – separately. I gave one shoe to my mother-in-law who was then a widow,  and the other shoe to my parents. Years later when my mother-in-law died we took back her shoe,  and… Read More

Remembering gentler times when we weren’t so wary of door-to-door salesmen and had more trust in the kindness of strangers,  I think about laundry day in London. In the early 1970s my husband had the chance to work there for a year and we grabbed it! I took a leave of absence from my teaching… Read More

I met Renee about 25 years ago when we were both working as librarians in the Bronx – she at New York Public Library,  and I at Jane Addams High School. Renee had been trained as a book discussion leader,  and as part of NYPL’s outreach to schools program she came to the neighboring Lehman… Read More

I’d never put a hat on the bed. I hold my breathe when I drive past a cemetery. When I see a nun in a habit,  I pull on my buttons. I’d never walk under an open ladder. I always bring the cup to the kettle,  never the kettle to the cup. I never open… Read More

Back in early February – which now seems a lifetime ago  – my husband Danny was told by his cardiologist that he would need surgery to correct a blocked carotid artery.  Of course I couldn’t resist chiding him that years of unhealthy snacking had finally caught up with him. Danny’s surgery was set for Tuesday,… Read More

Every New York apartment-dweller dreams of more living space,  and I was no  different! We moved into our 2 BR, 2 BATH, RIV VU upper eastside apartment when our son was less than a year old.  We loved  our building,  our local park,  and our neighborhood..  My husband’s office was in the E 40s,  and… Read More

I’m from a small family and have always felt close to my aunts and uncles.  Now, like my parents,  they’re all gone. (For more about my family see  Call Me by Their Names) My parents were each the middle child of three, and both had strong bonds with their siblings and stayed close despite geography,… Read More