Suprise Me

My maternal grandparents met, married and had their first two children in Bialystock, (Imperial) Russia (after the first world war, part of Poland) at the turn of the 20th century. They survived the pogroms (race riots promulgated against Jews) in 1906, hidden by Christian neighbors and fled to the United States with their babies in… Read More

Overture.  The Middletown Ct. Police Station—Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion. Before beginning my job as a substitute teacher, I traveled to the police department for a fingerprint security check.  The officer, a large friendly African American interviewed me. “Where will you be teaching?” “Middletown High School.” “Oh,” he warningly replied. “Do you know… Read More

He traced his commitment to wearing hats to his first jury trial. Read More

But if one was the picture-perfect-postcard of a vacation the other was the photographic negative from which it was printed. Read More

Words with Suzy I’m not much of a gamester although both my parents played bridge,  my dad played chess,  and my mom played mah jongg,   (See My Game Mother) Of course as a kid I certainly played Monopoly and all the other popular board games of the day,  and in fact for years there was… Read More

“Do you think my hair is falling out?” my sister asked. After going through a round of chemotherapy for lung cancer, hair loss would not be unexpected. She raked her fingers through her hair as she asked, and we both noticed  the silver strands she now held in her hand. After a moment, I asked… Read More

The diner's booths were large enough to swallow a child as small as I was. Read More

We all thought equality was a great idea, but it was not easy to translate into the day-to-day work of being married. Read More

I still own a pair of black Can’t Bust ‘Em dungarees that I wore while working as a timber cutter at the Buckshot mine in Eldora, Colorado. I don’t wear them anymore — I’m a little beyond a 1970 waistline — but the rugged old pants still sport the brass buttons sewn onto the beltline… Read More

I felt uncomfortable packing the book and uncomfortable leaving it behind. Read More