Suprise Me

I grew up in Detroit, Michigan; Motown, USA, in a family deeply involved in the automotive industry. My dad, with a partner, owned a Chrysler dealership and there was always a new car in the driveway (he’s the one just to the right of the car door holding his pith helmet with his arm out… Read More

Among the many heroes who emerged from the ashes of the Oklahoma City bombing in April, 1995, were three Golden Retrievers from Miami, Florida, with the unlikely names of Aspen, Maggie, and Brandee. The dogs all belonged to the Metro Dade County Fire Department and were also a part of the FEMA Task Force 1… Read More

I was made Queen for a Day.  But that started a Family Feud and landed me in Jeopardy.  Read More

The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal is reputed to have written words to the effect that  “This letter would have been shorter if I’d had more time to write it.” Perhaps if he’d had a reliable watch, a relatively modern invention, what short time he had wouldn’t have gotten away from him. For years,… Read More

Michael Jackson’s actions were so unforgivable that I cringe when I hear his music. But now that he’s gone, is it okay to dance? I’m not sure. Read More

You never like that stove.  You don’t know what it meant. Read More

In September 2001 I lived in a country setting below converging flight paths into Boston. On the twelfth I went out to lie in the high grass, to scan the clear sky and to think. The emptiness. The silence. The peace. For this brief moment, the frenetic world I knew had stopped spinning—it was a… Read More

  Solitude liberated me from isolation and mediocrity. For me, isolation results from a feeling of imprisonment.  I have felt physically isolated in a crowd, at a bar, in a faculty meeting or even in the exercise gym where I am the weakest and slowest. For me, solitude is self-chosen: a personal path to exploring… Read More

I hope my children picture me as a doting grandmother, happily playing with their children, unburdened by the daily demands of parenting. And it’s true that one of the joys of having grandchildren is spending special time together. To me, that means reading books, drawing, going to the park, singing and dancing to Beatles tunes… Read More

in a lowered voice, Kyle said, “we don’t do that thing anymore.” “What thing?” I asked. “You know,” Devon jumped in. “That thing we was drawing on the ground with our fingers.” Read More