Suprise Me

Growing up in Michigan, where we have each season, I appreciated each one for its unique character, but autumn was always my favorite, with the glorious colors of the changing leaves, the crispness of the air, the bonfires we had after we helped my dad rake the leaves (no longer permitted, but I did love… Read More

I served a generous portion, grated sharp cheddar on top, and plunged my fork in to discover . . . chunky bean soup. Zero alarm. A fire retardant. Read More

Ferdando’s Fritattas When my son Noah was in high school the headmaster announced the school would be participating in an exchange program with 20 students from Spain.  The Spanish kids would come to New York for a month,  and at a later date our students would go to Spain.  Families were asked to host and… Read More

Dan and Sally invited me in, and with their daughter, we played backgammon, and they made me a cup of tea and offered me some cookies. Read More

I can’t stand the sight of my cell phone... Read More

Long-time Retrospect readers may recall my story Bridge Over Troubled Waters about how I played bridge for many years, mostly in high school and college, and my conclusion that I was a much better bridge player when I was stoned. I ended that story with the following passage: “Once I had my first baby, 32 years ago,… Read More

Fear of the Other I’m a white woman who for years worked in a public high school in New York’s inner city –  in fact in the infamous south Bronx of Fort Apache fame. I usually carpooled to work with fellow teachers  but at times took the subway from my upper east-side Manhattan neighborhood .  As… Read More

Loving a child with disabilities grants you membership to a club which people never aspire to join. Read More

    My antiwar writing began in a theater. I was working on a new play and the antiwar movement of the 1960s came up in conversation. Several of the actors expressed amazement that there had been a determined movement to stop the war. One actor said something like “Wow! We just thought that all… Read More

Health, education, and welfare: equality is improving, but progress is uneven. Read More