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Tattoo You
Prompted By Tattoos and Piercings
/ Stories
I don’t know if I ever would’ve gotten a tattoo if my daughter hadn’t made us appointments with her favorite artist. I agreed to do it, but didn’t know what to choose. I went back and forth between some ideas (Hawaiian sunset! Lavender roses!), but finally decided on a bluebird of happiness. At the time,…
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When the Right Thing is the Hardest Thing or: He Had a Fast Car
Prompted By The DMV
/ Stories
Last year I learned that the DMV will suspend your license if you receive a diagnosis of dementia. You get a letter and are offered the chance to appeal their decision. Doctors are required by law to notify the DMV once the diagnosis is made, and so the letter may come as a surprise, depending…
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Where I’m From
Prompted By Is Where I’m From Who I Am?
/ Stories
WHERE I’M FROM inspired by a poem by George Ella Lyon I am from the old country: Belarus, Poland, running from the Cossacks The Lady with the Lamp: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free I am from Far Rockaway, NY; St. Louis, Detroit I am from dill pickles,…
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The ’80s Called…
Prompted By My First Computer
/ Stories
…and they want their stuff back! Oh, the clunkyness of it all. This photo is easily worth one thousand words, but instead: my favorite screen saver: On Mighty Toaster Wings!
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Ms Information
Prompted By Directionally Challenged
/ Stories
No matter where I am–at home or abroad–people ask me for directions. I don’t know why. Most of the time I can answer correctly, but I’m sure I’ve made some mistakes. Years ago, I brought this up at lunch with my friends and colleagues at the high school where I worked. One of the (younger)…
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They Could’ve Danced All Night
Prompted By Favorite Fairy Tale
/ Stories
My favorite fairy tale? Hands down, it’s “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Why? The princesses would dress up every night and disappear though a secret tunnel to dance the night away with handsome princes. They would return the next morning, their shoes worn out from dancing. I loved that story, partly because of the new shoes…
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Heart on a Red Sleeve
Prompted By Customer Service
/ Stories
My story begins at the end of a harrowing week, the week my 81 year old father died. His kind heart, the one he always wore on his sleeve, finally gave out. He had warned me in so many words: you never have as much time as you think you do. He died on a…
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The Name Game
Prompted By What's in a Name
/ Stories
My name is Risa. That’s R-I-S-A. When I was growing up, I was the only Risa I had ever heard of. Surrounded by a gaggle of girls named Karen, Kathy, Linda, Carol, Nancy, and Diane, I was one of a kind. I got used to fielding the comments and questions: No, it’s not short for…
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My Dad’s Guide to Living a Rewarding Life
Prompted By What My Father Told Me
/ Stories
This is what I read at my Dad’s funeral in 2001. It sums up many of the life lessons I learned from him. My dad was a teacher, and like many outstanding teachers, he never took time off from teaching. Sure, there were vacations and summers, but he was always on the job. If no…
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Just the Way You Are
Prompted By One Song That Moves Me
/ Stories
Billy Joel’s recording of “Just the Way You Are” was released (or “dropped” as we say now) in September of 1977. By early 1978, the song was still getting a lot of airplay on the radio. During the nearly four months my daughter was in the Intensive Care Nursery at UCSF, my husband and I …
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