The Jane Addams HS boys basketball team with Coach Jon Ostrow (Ozzie) in the blue shirt. A Favor for the Coach I’ve shared many memories of my years working at Jane Addams HS.   (See Magazines for the Principal , The Diary of a Young Girl,  Going Back to Work , Mr October  and The Parking Lot… Read More

Birthday Bakers Going to birthday parties has always been great fun for kids.   When I was young I’d wear a pretty party dress and my mother would take me to the birthday kid’s house,  with me proudly carrying the wrapped gift.   Then we’d put on paper hats,  play games,  and eat cake and ice… Read More

The Puppy Farm I’ve written before about my wonderful childhood puppy  (See Fluffy, or How I Got My Dog and Fluffy and the Alligator Shoes)  but sadly there is more to tell. I’m sure today’s child rearing gurus would advise you to tell your kids the truth no matter how painful,  but I suspect my folks… Read More

Book Club I took this photo in front of my friend Helen’s beautiful waterfront home on City Island in the Bronx.   Pictured are the wonderful women in my  Uptown Book Club,  in the back row – Reina,  Karlan,  Judy,  Marlene,  and Helen;  and in the front row – Renee and Paula. It seems I have… Read More

Sunburn One sunny Friday afternoon we went to our local coffeeshop for a quick bite and then to the garage to get the car for our weekend drive to Connecticut. My fair-skinned husband is prone to sunburn so after putting the convertible top down,  he rubbed some sunscreen on his face.  Then as he drove… Read More

A Thousand Little Touches My father – six years older than my mother – died in his early 80s.   (See My Dad and the Word Processor,   Saying Farewell to a Special Guy,  Six Pack, My Father, the Outsider Artist,  GP and Turkey and Trimmings with Flu Shot) My mother,  who it seemed had never been sick… Read More

Obit I was at work when my mother called to tell me Ruth M had died.   My mom was at the age when she read the obituaries every day looking for the names of friends and acquaintances,  and had seen Ruth’s name in the morning paper. Ruth was my ex-mother-in-law and I hadn’t seen… Read More

Watching Lacrosse with Dick I’ve written before about my friends Celia and Dick.  (See Moving Day Blues and Carving Mr Pumpkin) Dick is no longer with us but he’s impossible to forget.  He was a wonderful guy – bright, warm, witty,  cultured,  well-read and world-travelled,  a gourmand and a bon vivant,  an historian and writer,  and founder… Read More

Writing for Retrospect Altho I’ve RetroFlashed about my feelings for Retrospect,  there’s more to say about this wonderful website! In September 2019 at the urging of my friend Betsy,  and after some transcontinental calls to Suzy with tech questions,  I wrote my first Retro story for the prompt Road Rage.  It was about an accident… 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 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 street.… Read More