I graduated from Barnard in 1958. What a different world it was. If the POTUS had given a speech it would have been greeted with polite and enthusiatic applause, whatever the real emotions of the crowd.

Now, in the 21st century, we have a squealing, screeching mob, the antithesis of… Read full post »

Every time I see Joan on television something in me lights up. Yes, there is intelligence amid all the stupidities and lies. She dominates the screen even when she only occupies a corner of it. She always says something clever and to the point. She is calm even when I am… Read full post »

As I watched the pictures of Hama in Syria, the thick  gray smoke enveloping the buildings, I was jolted back ino the past, the acrid smell fresh in my nostrils after so many years. It all seemed so familiar, almost to the point of nostalgia. Where did those endless days go?… Read full post »

It is Father's Day and where's Daddy, the father of all those beautiful babies! That was his favorite expression of love when life was going well. And life was beautiful, especially with each new baby. There was a belief that each child brought it's own dowry or at least, luck. And… Read full post »

Sunday snow was joy unalloyed back in the old days. No school, no work, lazy days in bed with love, sex, or even The New York Times, when it was a compendium of New York happenings, events, news and baubles that were buyable by some of us . One day, that … Read full post »

He asked me , "are you motivated?" I had to answer because he was the psychopharmacologist and was  going  to prescribe  something to "get me UP and Going Again.

I went to him because my daughter says I am depressed. She will not listen to my complaints because she is… Read full post »

I need to write this. My tale of woe. Thanksgiving is not what I thought it was, what it really was for the family and friends that joined us.

My mother chose the restaurant for Thanksgiving. That was the extent of her participation. She was an artist who just happened to… Read full post »

Sarah Palin is the girl we all wanted to be, in High School, in summer camp, in Freshman Orientation. Slim, simple/smart, good-looking but not threatening, athletic but feminine, fervent yet fertile, with a handsome prom date in constant attendance, children of all sizes calling her "Mom," whether bi… Read full post »

What do you tell a beautiful young woman who wants to have a "tummy tuck" because the beautiful twins recently arrived have left her with a little extra wrinkled skin? What do you say when she screams at you and tells you that you are heartless and cruel? What do you… Read full post »

Tomorrow morning I shall get myself up to the Cathedral of St. John The Divine and I will light a candle for my late husband, lost love. We were students at Columbia and as we talked and he recited Arabic poetry to me we walked the brick pathways and thought of… Read full post »

I found Arturo Vivante in "The New Yorker" magazines that were mailed to me in Beirut during the 60's and the early 70's. His name alone attracted me. My husband was called Arthur and if anyone deserved a name like Vivante, he did. So, in this little coincidence, existing only in… Read full post »

Monday, the 16th of March, would mark my 53d wedding anniversary, if my love was still alive. On the same day in 1956, as we were joined by a New York Supreme Court Judge, the second greatest snowstorm of the last century was in progress, coating NewYork like a fabulous wedding… Read full post »