It was supposed to beA short errand that day.But it turned into a balagonWhat else is there to say? Appointments were madeWith a time to keep.But as we all knowMan plans, then weeps. We stood in lineFor what seemed like hours.My back began hurting,My mood became sour. Fifteen minutes to check […]
Tough Lessons
22 posts
The phone rang at 8:30 that morning. “Lin, I’m so sorry. My battery’s dead. You’ll have to drive,” my sister said, her voice quivering with distress. “No worries. I’ll pick you up,” I said, even though I really didn’t want to drive since my cataract surgery was still a week […]
It is a cold winter evening in 1944. A group of farmers sits around the kitchen table in Chyliczki, a small village near Warsaw. Even though it is only four o’clock, it is already dark outside. This is the only heated space in the two-room wooden farmhouse. During the day, […]
Originally written in 1965. Edited in 1983, 1990, 2019, 2022. The rear lights of the car disappeared. A second later even the faint growl of the motor was engulfed by the silence of the night. I was brutally dumped into a cold, dark, isolating solitude. The bright stars were staring […]
An article in the Wall Street Journal weekend edition of July 2-3, 2022, by Joseph Skibell titled “When the Prayers at School Aren’t Yours” triggered some memories of events that happened during my teen years. Growing up in Lubbock, Texas in the 1970s, Mr. Skibell writes: “There were only a […]
Even though the Baltimore Orioles have been struggling, my husband, Stuart, and I have been diehard fans even before we met. We’ve been there through the happy times (think Cal Ripkin era) and the very unhappy times like the past five years. Twenty years ago, we purchased four Sunday season […]
I fought so long but now succumbI’ve joined the group and it’s a bumI took a test just to be sureNow time’s the only semi-cure. Another thing: it can come backAnd a relapse puts you back on trackCOVID once isn’t very niceBut twice just isn’t a fair price. Symptoms they […]
I awake with a start. Disoriented, I look for the clock. It’s not there. I shake my head for clarity and realize I’m on the couch. Did I fall asleep, and Laura came in too quietly? What time is it? I stumble to the kitchen and squint at the clock—3:30. […]
With all of the talk about sexual harassment and abuse in the news, I would like to address this issue myself. I was a victim more than once of this type of abuse when I was young. The men were not billionaires or famous, just predators who thought they could […]