Saturday morning cartoons were a big deal to me and my three younger brothers in 1966. Each of us had an assigned Saturday for deciding whether we would watch Huckleberry Hound, Bugs Bunny, or the Jetsons. On one particular morning, I was unhappy with the choice one of my siblings had made. How a pipe wrench came to be in my eight-year-old hand, I do not remember. I do, however, very clearly remember striking the head of one of the characters of the offending cartoon. The result was a nick

After my husband’s passing, I wrote “thank yous“ for the wonderful condolence messages, and as was my habit, signed both our names. I soon heard from concerned friends that I wasn’t facing reality. “What reality?” I protested. “I am our secretary; he always left it to me.”

However, he did compose one note that I cherish. He wrote it on the day of our second daughter’s birth, and I have read the note at the naming of each of my great grandchildren.

“Thank you, dear G-d,”

My grandfather, like my grandfather's father and all the men before or after him in my family, is a fisherman. Not just any kind of fisherman, though. There's the fishermen who fish on the beach, off the dock, or off a boat, and then there's the fishermen who own party boats, capable of taking out crowds of 75-100 to go fishing during the summer and early fall. My grandfather was the latter.

When my grandfather's father was starting out in life (I'm saying his 30s)he bought a boat an

A soft, sweet summer breeze sweeps over the path, as her shimmering golden locks fly behind her and she toddles after a puppy.
With her bright, exquisite sundress blowing in the wind and her dainty little baby toes padding on the cold, hard packed earth, not even noticing how hard and cold it is, and only seeing the true beauty around her.
She stops long enough to smell an auspicious, boastful flower, when a bright, red, luminescent berry catches her eye. She plucks it off the vine an

I am a 45 year old grandmother I have a beautiful 6 year old grand daughter she is the light of my life. She lives with me full time and I am her legal guardian I never thought I would be raising another one I had children early in life, didn't want to be a older parent. I love my 2 children dearly but was looking forward to not having a little one underfoot. school PTA, parent teacher conferences, Dr visits etc, But now I wouldn't give it up for the world.
It is a lot of work right now h

Is that all there is? and then DIE?
I don't think so.....thats what I thought when I was a teen.....then HE TOUCHED ME! Yes, I was blown away when I was on drugs....I was 20 , a college drop out and making pizzas for something to do. I was drinking daily to escape the emptiness of my existence. Sure, it was a facade that I was "partying". I was miserable and God knew it. He was gracious enough to know when to intervene. I was busted a few weeks earlier for having a party with some pot at m

I have never been in favor of numbers, especially when it came to age. When kids joke about death, I immediately become sensitive unknowingly. But I'm aware aging is natural and inevitable, which is what scares me the most.

Luckily, I am surrounded by all these people that I love, like my grandparents. But whenever I am spending time with them, I can't help but noticing another wrinkle on their face or their momentary loss of memory. Time passes by so quickly and so do the numbers.

I remember growing up how every time you held me you held me super close. Ever time you would see me you would say how beautiful I was and spoil me rotten.
But when I started growing up you slowly changed.
What happened to the Nana who would eat chocolate chip cookies with me until our stomach hurt? Or the Nana who would watch hours of television with me when you had so many other things to do?
Nana what happened?
Why don't you remember me?
Why don't you remember wh

My grandmother recently had a heart attack. About six months ago, she was routinely doing chores and cooking food for my family in India, when she fell to the floor and started having heart pains. My aunt and uncle quickly took her to the clinical practitioner a few doors over and asked what had just happened. The doctor told them she had just had a heart attack! What was amazing was that even with the heart attack, she was able to walk to the doctor’s office. Nevertheless, my grandmother was t

Until I was three years old we lived with my grandparents on my mother’s side in their home south of Pittsburgh. Then my parents and grandparents bought two adjacent properties out in Nottingham Township, farther south, out in ‘the country”

My parents had one acre and built their home on top of a hill. The grandparents on my mother’s side had an acre next to that on a lower plot.

I remember running out of my ranch house kitchen door, down the steps to the driveway, whe