Suprise Me

Faithful readers of Retrospect may recall my story on the prompt Beaches, which included memories of two spring break trips I took three decades apart: a 1961 trip with my parents and sisters to Fort Lauderdale shortly after the movie Where the Boys Are came out; and a 1992 trip to Maui with my future second husband… Read More

My tonsils are out A nurse speaks: “Do you want ice cream, or ice chips?” Read More

Magnolia,  the Story of a Garden After the war a young couple returned to New York from Charleston with their 2 year-old daughter and bought a house in the Bronx on the GI Bill.   (See Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home)   There was a wonderful grape arbor in the garden and the girl’s grandmother made wine with… Read More

Mother was very insecure and depressed. She didn’t like to cook, had a maid for much her of life, didn’t know how to do laundry or iron, wasn’t good at domestic chores. She got by. Her entire life, she never drove on a highway. She didn’t like her own looks and projected that displeasure and… Read More

December, 2003, my first time volunteering for the huge “December Sale” at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. My friend Barbara Cole Lee chaired this sale which ran over several days during the first week of December. She is a force of nature, brought in significant buyers from the art world and beyond… Read More

As an added bonus, Jiminy Cricket taught me how to spell "encyclopedia." Read More

But, of course, the iconic Alka-Seltzer ads featured little Speedy Alka-Seltzer. Bright-eyed and eager he pitched relief to the masses. Known far and wide, yes, but do you know Speedy's backstory? Read More

We asked just two questions. The first was whether they supported or opposed the ERA. The second ... Read More

      Rush hour is a daily ordeal, a gauntlet thrown down by urban existence. It is a time when the open road, a symbol of freedom, transforms into a congested, serpentine nightmare. The once-fluid asphalt becomes a parking lot in motion, a claustrophobic ballet of honking horns and overly impatient drivers. Beyond the… Read More

Retrospective Faith.  Do I have any?  I’m not a believer in an afterlife. I don’t believe in answered prayers.  I don’t believe that there is a higher power looking out for my safety and general well-being.  I wasn’t born for a reason or as part of a plan. I tried for maybe sixty percent of… Read More