The supper dishes are done, the counters wiped clean, and the yellow Formica table in the kitchen is transformed into my mother's night school.

My mother is not one to share her thoughts or feelings.  Not with me, not with anyone. But I know things.  I listen, I look.  I spy… Read full post »

In 1991 I had my first and only child. My husband came home from work on a Wednesday and announced he'd been laid off. I went into labor on Thursday.

I never planned to work after having a baby. I wanted one child, had that one child, and now I wanted… Read full post »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

 It seems I am boycotting another product or service on a weekly basis because I don't agree with their politics or where they are putting their money. It's  like the Whack-a-Mole game. I give up one thing and another one pops up.

This one gives money to anti-gay groups~ whack!  … Read full post »

Today I spent the day the way the tourists do.

Unlike the tourists, I did not wear an "I Heart DC" t-shirt, a baseball cap turned backwards, or a fanny pack. I did not stand on the wrong side of the escalator on the metro. And I didn't ride a Segway.… Read full post »

I never knew my father. 

We lived in the same house for nine years.  For nine years I feared him, steered clear of him, and breathed a sigh of relief each time he left. I was afraid of his drunken rages. I trembled as my mother dressed me for our too… Read full post »

They mean well. Really they do. They greet me at the door. They ask if I am finding everything I am looking for. 

They are young and earnest and I want to be in charge of  re-training them.

Sephora is a store that sells mostly high end cosmetics, perfumes and beauty… Read full post »

 If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole world would change~ Buddha

 If you pass by the color purple in a field… Read full post »

In the middle of the city, there really is a Secret Garden. 

A gazebo~ 

Inside the gazebo~ 

A place to sit~ 

Beauty above~ 

Beauty below~

A Prodigal Son … Read full post »

Cherry blossom time in Washington, DC is magnificent.  Delicate pink and white blossoms line the Tidal Basin.   It doesn't matter that I see them year after year, they still take my breath away.

Cherry blossoms mean spring is finally here. 

This year it is much colder than normal. It… Read full post »

Every spring I do the purging of the Clutter, the Unnecessary, the Space Stealers.

Paper is what needs to go.  Old magazines are at the top of my list. (Although I will never part with the issue of "More" that features Jamie Lee Curtis posing in underwear sans airbrushing.) Newspapers from… Read full post »