***This essay was written several years ago and although I didn't move to the East Coast and find Eddie Munster, I found someone even better.*** :)

I had coffee with an old friend this morning, and complained about my husband keeping me awake all night because he was sick.

 … Read full post »

He loved me deeply for two years but for the most part his love was unrequited.

I found his constant advances an annoyance to my wounded heart and favored emotionally unavailable men. Men that could prove that I was unloveable.

Yet he was always there; listening to my endless stories with… Read full post »

THE POET

The poet is a sculptor. Words are putty in his hands.

 He twists, turns and bends them until they form magical, lyrical and mysterious art.

Words flow from his keyboard, into his microphone and from his mouth in everyday conversation.

Women love The Poet.

He is dark and romantic;… Read full post »

I moved to the Jersey Shore from the West Coast three years ago, and although I've met people like "Snooki" and her friends each summer, they are not the true reality of this magical and sometimes insane place I now call home.

After my divorce I needed a serious geographic… Read full post »

  The  first time I entered the County Foodstamp Office I was ashamed.

I moved quickly with my head down, eyes averted, as if I had some important business to conduct. I did not belong in the midst of these impoverished folks waiting for the government to feed… Read full post »

"You know Erica, The Man Upstairs doesn't give you more than you can handle."

I've heard this before, even said it to myself, but coming from my friend Ret it has new meaning. Ret is not a religious man. He is not sentimental. Our conversations used to be drenched with sarcasm and harmless… Read full post »

Dear Mr. O:

Our son played his first "real" game of Little League last night. By "real" I mean there are strikes and outs and they can even steal bases! Now that he's nine they don't let everyone win like they used too.

I was so scared for him when… Read full post »

This is fear.

You wake up to another day of rain that puddles in the corners of your basement apartment.

You can almost see the black mold growing and it's spores infecting the lungs of your sleeping children.

You want to go home.

You have no home.

Your mother is 1200 miles away… Read full post »

When did the world decide that children should stop playing?

I’m not implying that school is not important, and extracurricular activities and sports certainly build character.

But when do we find time to just play?

Perhaps the people who gave poor reviews of Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland have never had to slay a Jabberwocky.

But I have.

Every time another seemingly impossible issue in my life rears its ugly head, I am given no choice b… Read full post »

“You need to take advantage of every resource out there!”

I’ve heard this demand endlessly from family and friends, and this time it was coming from my friend Jean.

“If there is help out there to pay rent go find it!”

I assured Jean that I would, and h… Read full post »

As if driving 1200 miles with a U-Haul trailer, 2 kids, a large dog and a pet rat weren’t challenging enough, I arrived at my new apartment on the Jersey Shore to find that it wasn’t vacant. The current tenant stubbornly refused to leave for another month and since it was… Read full post »

I once threw elegant dinner parties, and dressed my kids in Baby Gap while pushing an expensive jogging stroller along the paths that would transform into a ski tourist’s paradise with the snow. But behind my façade was a desperately unhappy woman wh/… Read full post »

I had never been to Bayville when I agreed to rent this basement apartment almost one year ago, and I certainly didn't plan to still be living here today. Yet here I sit.

"What's Bayville like?" I had asked a total of two people.

 "Bayville's nice," they both said,… Read full post »