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The Gossips
Prompted By Gossip
/ Stories
The Gossips The prolific American artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell painted The Gossips in 1948 and like innumerable of his works it graced the cover of The Saturday Evening Post. As was his habit, Rockwell used his friends and neighbors as his models, and in The Gossips he even included himself – that’s the artist with his ubiquitous pipe…
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“I hereby resolve (after eat healthy and exercise more) …
Prompted By Resolutions
/ Stories
”I hereby resolve (after eat healthy and exercise more) … to remember that friendships are more important than telling my book club the novel they all think is so great is really trash to be less judgmental when my husband watches news and sports and reruns on MeTV ad nauseam to call my cousins more…
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To an Athlete Dying Young
Prompted By 1963
/ Stories
To an Athlete Dying Young I remember that day so vividly, it’s hard to believe it was over 60 years ago. In the fall of 1963 I was in my senior year at NYU Heights. (See Ghostwriting in the Family, The Fortune Cookie Candidate and Theatre Dreams) I was a member of the college theatre group, and…
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Spinning for Hanukkah Gelt
Prompted By Dice
/ Stories
Spinning for Hanukkah Gelt You probably don’t have to be Jewish to know about the Hanukkah game called Dreidel. It’s a betting game where each player antes up and then, depending on the spin of the dreidel – the four-sided spinning top that serves as the dice – he either takes nothing from the pot…
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The Year of Banana Bread
Prompted By Holiday Letters
/ Stories
The Year of Banana Bread Dear Family and Friends, As this year draws to a close I’m happy to say despite the pandemic and the lock-downs we were really busy with lots to tell you in my annual holiday letter! Although our travels were a bit limited this year, we did take many trips back…
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The Corpse in the Office
Prompted By Comic Relief
/ Stories
The Corpse in the Office I grew up in the Bronx on a tree-lined street that bordered the beautifully designed and landscaped housing complex called Parkchester. (See The Puppy in the Waiting Room, Magnolia, The Story of a Garden, and Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home) There were seven or eight stores on our street, a bar called…
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GP
Prompted By Family Medicine
/ Stories
GP My father was a GP with an office on the first floor of our house, and we lived “over the store” (See The Puppy in the Waiting Room, Saying Farewell to a Special Guy, and Turkey and Trimmings with Flu Shot) My dad did it all – delivered babies, took out splinters and appendixes, and…
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My Zuzu
Prompted By Regrets
/ Stories
My Zuzu I’ve written about my beautiful kid sister Laurie – my Zuzu – who died in 2015 at age 61 after a long and painful battle with MS. (See Take Care of Your Sister, Look for the Helpers – for Laurie) Laurie was gifted, and at the time of her illness an NIH…
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The Chain Letter and the Fender Bender
Prompted By Chain Letters
/ Stories
The Chain Letter and the Fender Bender The first story I wrote for Retro was about some rather costly auto body damage I caused when I was driving my husband’s beloved T-bird. Needless to say he wasn’t happy about that. (See Fender Bender) Years before we had another fender bender and although that time…
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My Blessings
Prompted By An Attitude of Gratitude
/ Stories
My Blessings My father’s birthday was November 26 and we always celebrated it on Thanksgiving. Every year my mother hosted with our extended family around the table, and after the turkey and the fixings there was always a birthday cake, and toasts to my dad. He was an especially wonderful soul, and it’s…
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