Suprise Me

Mardi Gras 2020 — The last night out Read More

This chance encounter in September 1974 didn't change my life, but it certainly changed the lives of the other two people involved.  Read More

I’m 66, so why do I still have so many vivid memories of Kindergarten? I remember things like wetting my pants because I was too afraid to leave my seat without permission. I remember a couple sympathetic room mothers offering me a Halloween costume since my mom hadn’t arranged for one. Being proud, stubborn and… Read More

Literacy for Incarcerated Teens  When I retired after my long career as a high school librarian,  my friend Karlan called me.  Karlan was recently retired herself after working for New York Public Library as a young adult librarian. “I’m heading a new organization called Literacy for Incarcerated Teens / LIT “,  she said,  “it’s a good… Read More

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was no television reception on Long Beach Island. Instead, we went out after dinner for lemon ice (made with real lemons and cane sugar), and played a round of miniature golf. Read More

Stop, drop and roll is what the tell you when you're in a fire, but what's the right thing to do when you're under fire by a long time friend who knows just a bit more about money than you...and isn't afraid to tell you! This happened today. Read More

"Bartender, drinks on the house for the entire castle!" Read More

March 5, 1895. That is the caption in my photo album. These are my grandparents, Samuel Sarason and “Lizzie” (Fruma Leah) Prensky (changed to Prentis by her younger brother Meyer in 1925) on their wedding day in St. Louis, MO, as referenced on the bottom of the photo. I love everything about this photo. I… Read More

My house is across the street from a park with several baseball diamonds, and around the corner from a school whose baseball field and snack shack are the headquarters for the local Little League. Every year on opening day there is a parade that goes past my house, with pickup trucks full of screaming little… Read More

2026 McGraw Leaving Manhattan recently on a wintry Friday afternoon we hit rush hour and my husband turned off the highway to avoid the heavy traffic.   We were taking a detour through local Bronx streets when I realized we were about to pass my old neighborhood,  and we decided to drive down my old… Read More