Suprise Me

I lived in my first — and only — apartment building the summer after my sophomore year of college. I had snagged a great summer job working for Houghton Mifflin Publishing Co. in Boston. My dear friend Kit, who was part of my Comstock Hall crowd, had a job as a research assistant for a… Read More

The lies we told each other—and ourselves. Read More

Sleeping Arrangements  What’s more fun than a new kitten?  (See ASPCA) But they do require some serious training to show them who’s boss.   So the day we brought Jackie home from the ASPCA we read him the house rules –  don’t bite the hand that feeds you,  keep your paws off the house plants,  and… Read More

The Great Hampton Babysitter Heist  When our son Noah was very young we spent several summers in the Hamptons in a rented house a short drive from both the beach and the town. One summer my husband Danny invited his business colleague Stan to join us for the weekend with his wife Lynn and their… Read More

My grandfather, mother and great grandmother Louise Stone Carswell holding me 1945.  I grew up hearing colorful family stories about our English, Irish and Scottish roots. My grandmother would skim down the list of names and dates in an old bible and tell me what she’d heard about our ancestors. My dad’s parents had similar… Read More

I’ve missed my chance to take a walk today. Now it’s raining, and freezing, and the forecast says it’s only going to get worse. Read More

    When I see photographs of you, my breath catches in my throat, my eyes sting with the salt of tears. I touch your face with open lips hoping the kiss travels the distance to where you are.   You arrived on earth in splendor.  Your epoch beauty blown across time –  the white… Read More

Wondering where those demons of the night are coming from? Check your pill box. Read More

Night Owl I’ve always been a night owl,  but once ready for bed I don’t remember having trouble falling asleep – until lately. Blame it on aging,  or Covid concerns,  or worrying about the fate of the planet,  but lately there are nights I toss and turn until the wee hours. So what do I… Read More

No Dice! Try as I might, in my seven decades – most of which were lived in New York City of all places – I can’t remember being the victim of any shady deals or crooked schemes. I never shot craps in Vegas nor have I even been to Foxwoods. I was never conned in… Read More