The small home I spent my youngest years in had a narrow field behind it. A macadam path cut through it horizontally, extending behind our row of homes. It went nowhere, apparently a remnant of some ancient civilization. Beyond the path was a hill, perfect for sledding in the winter and rolling down on a […]
My grandmother had a monster of an old black stove. The kind with the fat chimney going into the wall. There was a small round area that looked like a tiny manhole cover on the stovetop. She had a tool to hook into the little cover to lift it. Small pieces of paper and string […]
My grandfather walked to and from his job in a coal mine. When the shift was over, women in the area would be out and about to meet up with some potential boyfriends/husbands. Alice was Polish, poor, and miserable. Her mother previously made a match for her with a man she never met and didn’t love. […]
Fat mustard in a jar. You can’t fit it in your car. Joe was about three years old when he made up this little ditty. It thoroughly amused him for a couple of days. He was my constant companion back then. A little chatterbox, ever mindful of his surroundings. I’d be talking on the phone and he’d […]
Rob took the dog for his usual meander this morning and spotted a little brown/black blob on the sidewalk. A closer look revealed it was a baby hummingbird. He came right home to retrieve a small box to scoop him into. I found a small dropper and tried to give the bird some water. He […]
I caught my dog staring in the mirror this morning. I knew what he was thinking. “My fur is too dark and short. This white on my face makes me look like an old dog. My paws are too small, my legs are skinny and my tail is too floppy. My ears are trying to […]
My brother married Judy. I thought, what? A girl from Oklahoma? Growing up in New Jersey and never travelling anywhere at that point in my life I didn’t know anything about other states. People often say Americans think this and/or Americans act this way and some of that is true. But American states have their […]
My son has always been a bit of a hypochondriac so, at 16, when he told me he was seeing spots in front of his eyes, I didn’t believe him. “That only happens in cartoons.” I said. But the next day he woke up and half of one eye was solid red. We were living […]
My brother once lived in a huge Victorian home. It stood across the street from another towering once grand house. The homes were glorious in their day; fine estates of the well to do. Much of the architectural detail could still be seen on the outsides. The insides were sliced and diced into tiny apartments […]