Suprise Me

My mother was not much of a cook. She made dinner every night for 30 years (except for the occasional restaurant meal), and then, when my father retired and the kids were all grown up and gone, she never cooked again. She certainly never imbued any of her three daughters with a love of cooking,… Read More

My Zuzu I’ve written about my beautiful kid sister Laurie – my Zuzu – who died in 2015 at age 61 after a long and painful battle with MS.   (See Take Care of Your Sister,  Look for the Helpers –  for Laurie) Laurie was gifted,  and at the time of her illness an NIH… Read More

The huddled masses make it impossible for me to get anywhere near the hotel’s entrance. Middle-aged women and gay men stand alongside pierced and tattooed teens—necks craned, toes tipped, autograph pens at the ready. Read More

What is faith? I struggle with the concept. We were minimally Jewish, attending services sporadically, though my brother and I were faithful Sunday school attendees, until my brother was 12. He was not being prepped for a bar mitzvah, unlike every other boy in his class. Girls still weren’t able to be “called to the Torah”… Read More

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. I couldn’t get the “brother” part out; it stuck in my craw. Read More

I stayed away from yard sales for many years after that experience, but starting Cherry Preschool with no money meant I would have to become a garage and yard sale lover. Read More

Behind the Mask Like all families,  ours at times has been an unwilling friend to darkness.   A medical officer in WW II,  my dad served on troop ships bringing soldiers to theaters of war and returning with the wounded and the dead,  and on a Stateside army base during those dark days I was… Read More

Piano Man – Remembering Herb My memories of that summer between college and grad school,  when I took a camp job with my friend Liz,  are bittersweet. Liz and I were co-counselors for a bunk of kids,  and I had also signed on as drama counselor.   When we arrived at camp I was introduced to… Read More

Many years ago when I was a very young man, I was in Mexico fulfilling what was then one of my greatest bucket list dreams; trying to catch a giant Marlin. As a boy, many times while laying in the tall cool green grass waiting for a Rainbow trout to take my bait I closed… Read More

We are the world, We are the children, We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving. Oh, there’s a choice we’re making, We’re saving our own lives, It’s true we’ll make a better day, just you and me. This song, written by Michael Jackson and sung by an ad hoc… Read More