Suprise Me

We decided to take our first-ever trip to Italy and began planning in 2010. The trip took place in October, 2011. We reached out to our wonderful and well-traveled Vineyard neighbor, who delights in offering travel suggestions. We told him our thoughts about destinations and price points for accommodations, he came back with a variety… Read More

In the early days of high school I went to my first concert, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. They filled the Coliseum. To me it was an Event with a capital E and I remember clearly what I wore. A white blouse of dotted Swiss with big full sleeves gathered at the wrist,… Read More

While others around me seemed bright, relaxed, and happy, I became dull, sleepy, and sad ... And, I could tell, very clearly, that I was physically impaired. Read More

Lost Child For many summers when our son was young we rented a beach house in the Hamptons.   (See Skinny Dipping and The Great Hampton Babysitter Heist) One summer day when he was three or four we were on the beach when the kid went missing,   We may have thought the other one had eyes… Read More

Hannah and Sam Prensky, my great-grandparents, had five children in Kovno, Lithuania. Lizzie, their eldest, was my grandmother. They were prosperous and well-educated. Sam spoke five languages and had a cigarette rolling factory that employed 500 people. Hannah was literate, played piano and passed her quick mind and love of learning on to her children.… Read More

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Imagine my shock as a kid when I saw my parents throw a set of luggage into the rising waters flooding our basement. Read More

But wait, there's more detritus; calculators, voice recorders, and an electronic dictionary. Read More

Jessie’s 79th Like most kids I had a yearly birthday party,   and then like many girls of my generation a Sweet Sixteen. In later years we had a wonderful celebration for my son’s 13th birthday at his bar mitzvah.   (see Ghostwriting in the Family) And later a fun party for my husband’s 60th at… Read More

The late ’60s were exciting, turbulent times, especially for a young man growing up in a Catholic seminary.  When I entered the Juniorate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Pascoag, RI in 1966, there were 24 of us guys (most of whom were gay, I now realize), from all parts of New York/New… Read More