Suprise Me

Aunt Babs and Uncle Paul I’ve written about all my aunts and uncles before. (See Call Me by Their Names) Here’s more about my wonderful aunt Babs and uncle Paul,  high school sweethearts who met as kids in the Rockaways. Family legend has it that when he was in medical school at NYU,  and Babs was… Read More

It was quite a job putting the bed frame together, although I don't remember whether it required any trips to the hardware store. Read More

“What’s this?” asked Wendy. “Chocolate cream pie,” I answered helpfully. “It’s like soup,” said Jean. Read More

In Judaism, turning thirteen is a big deal. For generations, boys were called to read from the Torah in a ceremony called a bar mitzvah, which marked their entry as an adult into the Jewish community. This was a boys-only club until March 18, 1922, when American rabbi Mordecai Kaplan held the first bat mitzvah… Read More

One morning my parents sat me down and told me that Jocelyn had passed away… that was when I started being serious about playing the piano. Read More

My father was the youngest of eight children, my mother, the youngest of four and I am their youngest. That makes me the youngest in a large generation of cousins, some old enough to be my own parent. We are a diverse group of people, yet we all get along, have each others’ backs and… Read More

A fictionalized look at what may have happened in the life of a boy who loved basketball and loved music just as much. Read More

  Alright settle down there, Retros. Yes, let us talk about the television, the telly, the boob tube. Now, before you all start clutching your pearls and wailing about the “vast wasteland” that is television, à la Newton Minow, hear me out. Because amongst the endless parade of reality trash and brain-rotting sitcoms, there were… Read More

Blossoming                    What are you doing, now? He asked me peering up with my line of sight. I am giving the wisteria a standing ovation! As he shakes his head my heart pulls toward admiring the purple tresses of the vine- so stunning, arresting in their  delicate… Read More

It is the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock, and for the past week there have been Woodstock stories everywhere I look. Every newspaper and magazine, print or online, seems to have a story written by someone who was there. PBS aired a new documentary last week subtitled Three Days That Defined a Generation. (Does that title… Read More