My daughter calls and tells me about a writing assignment she needs to do for one of her journalism classes. The assignment is to ask someone about a defining moment and write about it as briefly as possible.  Do you think Dad will be okay if I ask about his brother?… Read full post »

After the child left, there was quiet. Unnatural but not yet uncomfortable. It had always been lively before, one child filling up all the empty cracks and crevices like glue. 

Each day, he walks in from work, shouts a hello, opens the refrigerator. She is there, buttoning her heavy coat. I… Read full post »

The view from my window is pretty dull. No matter which room you are standing in, it all looks pretty much the same.  Fortunately, I have friends with remarkable views of the city. For this Open Call, I borrowed a few of their windows.

The mural of Marilyn Monroe is my… Read full post »

This week I am teaching a third grade class. This particular class is one of my favorites. Like the rest of the elementary school, it is a mix of black and white, Asian and Latino, rich and poor. 

We sit cross-legged in morning meeting. Each child gets a turn to speak.… Read full post »

It happens the same way every year. I don't remember the day my mother died until I look at the calendar. I am writing, "6:00 dinner reservations," and see that the date is December 30. One year I wrote, "Dumplings, 2:00." I was unsure whether to keep the date with friends,… Read full post »

 All is calm, all is bright~

 The Capitol Reflecting Pool 

 The Menorah on the National Mall

The fifty states, DC, and all the territories are represented by a tree~It's always a mob scene because people want a picture in front of their tr… Read full post »

This morning I am hanging the ornaments on the Christmas tree. I'm late to it this year. I am impressed by how neatly I have put them away from last year. Each one carefully wrapped in its own piece of white tissue, nestled neatly in the box. 

It's the unwrapping that… Read full post »

Okay, lets get this downstairs. The large man is referring to our large leather couch. It is big and cumbersome and he thinks I will be able to help him get it downstairs to the curb. We are donating this beautiful monstrosity to Goodwill. Their only stipulations are that there be… Read full post »

John Lennon was not my favorite Beatle. I loved him mostly because he and my brother looked so much alike. 

When my brother was in high school, the Beatles were huge. Being ten years younger than my brother, I learned about the Beatles from him. I sat on the edge of… Read full post »

I walked through McPherson Square yesterday where the protestors have set up camp in this little park for the last two months. I was struck by the number of DC police officers surrounding the perimeter. None in riot gear, just kind of hanging out, shooting the breeze with each other. I… Read full post »

 The nights my mother and I went to the Manhattan restaurant for dinner were special. It meant a break from cooking for her, and for me, it meant eating whatever I liked. We both knew it was a short reprieve from what was waiting at home. I sipped my Shirley Temple… Read full post »

The last place I wanted to be on "Black Friday" was a shopping mall. I wanted fresh air, wide open spaces, and lots of natural beauty. The National Arboretum in Washington, DC  turned out to be the perfect choice. 

The Arboretum is located in the NE quadrant of the city, close… Read full post »

Sometimes you are the giver and sometimes you are the taker, I tell my daughter on the phone. But you can never be just one, because the relationship will die.  We are talking about friendships, she and I. At twenty, she is figuring out friendships just as I am, even though I… Read full post »

I didn't marry a cop, but a year after we married, he became one. It was a shock having grown up in the liberal-child- of- the-'60's-dont' trust-anyone over-30-generation. I didn't like the idea, but I understood it. He was laid off from his job 24 hours before our baby was born. After… Read full post »

Sixth grade was the year of my bully. 

It was the year of my parents' divorce.  The damage had been done. I was a ten year old, nail-biting, nervous wreck.  The fighting, the yelling, the objects flying;  it all made for a world too precarious for the fragile child I had… Read full post »

I started teaching yoga classes several years ago in the after-school program at my elementary school. At first, I used it in the kindergarten classroom and eventually  expanded it to other grades after school.

It has been an extremely popular class.

Recently I read a cautionary article about te… Read full post »

The crowd of first and second graders huddling on the playground is my first clue that something is up. Shrieks of delight, then groans of disgust, then screams and girls running in different directions.

It's a large grasshopper.  His leg is broken, one girl tells me. As if on cue, the… Read full post »

Tonight begins the New Year for Jewish people everywhere. Because I had a Jewish mother, I can claim my Jewishness if I want to. I never found it that easy. 

The most Jewish part of our home was the food.  The first time I set foot in a synagogue was at… Read full post »

                                Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC~

The headstone of Leonard P. Matlovich, a Viet Nam veteran and the first soldier to take the United States military to court over the ban on… Read full post »

Between the ages of five and fifteen things disappeared. There was no mystery involved. When my mother made up her mind something had to go, it had to go. The book on my night table had to go. 

I read it over and over, comforted by the story of the… Read full post »

My mother stands at the front door with an apron over her skirt. She says the same thing every morning, the same words. Don't tell family business. Looking back one last time before climbing into my father's old station wagon, my eyes beg her to drive me herself. She shuts the front door.… Read full post »

Today I had lunch duty at Attica, my elementary school. What should have been a half hour of eating, socializing and relaxing, was in reality a half hour of shouting, kids switching tables, and very little food being consumed. 

It wasn't the kids' fault. It was ours. The prison guards teach… Read full post »

Mom, before I leave for school will you write down some of your best recipes for me? 

I am washing dishes at the sink as my daughter appears in the kitchen with this unusual request. We look at each other for a moment and burst into peals of laughter. Okay, so… Read full post »

I hear his ragged fingernails scratching at the door. I know they are dirty. Bits of his last host are deeply imbedded underneath them. He wants me to answer the door. He tries the bell. He knocks. I hear him breathing on the other side. I tell him he's got it… Read full post »

 I cling to August like a drowning woman. I know what's ahead and  I'm not willing to go gently.  I revel in it. I let the sun brown me more than I should.  I stay outside until the fireflies begin to twinkle. They are like the lamplights of my childhood. When… Read full post »