2023 has started off the way that 2022 started, with a loss. Last year it was my Great Uncle Joe; this year, our beautiful old neighbor and friend for over 55 years. It was a blessing when the Marks family moved into the high ranch across the street from us…

for a reason, a season, or a lifetime This weekend was supposed to a time to share with my Mom, we had plans for the whole weekend. The only thing that I wanted to do was to visit with a friend that is now in nursing home. I went to…

Thursday, my Mom and brother Frank arrived for the Easter weekend. I live up in the Catskills with my Dad. Our weather here has been beautiful the past few days, and I prayed that it continues throughout the weekend. I had so many plans for the weekend. Beginning of course…

With today being Palm Sunday that means that Easter is next week. I am lucky enough to still have my parents; although they have been divorced for many years, we all come together now at the holidays. Gone are the times when I had to be Speed Racer to get…

On Friday, I got a text message from my youngest son. It was a link to the much anticipated new live 1950’s census. Only two years late but here it was just the same. To say that I was excited about it was an understatement. But people like me who…

I am grateful for everything in my life. There are some days, like everyone else, when I complain about things. I recently complained about how long of a drive it is to Long Island, where I lived pretty much my whole life except for when I was married. My Mom…

One Easter Sunday, when I was 4 years old, I followed Poppy into his bathroom while he was shaving. He very innocently put a dab of shaving cream on my chin and laughed. He had a face full of shaving cream and had started to shave. I watched him intently…

Rockaway Beach was where Nanny, her sister Connie, and brother Johnny went for many years with their parents. Nanny’s Mom always wanted a place of her own by the beach. A place that they could get in a car and get away to. Her Mom’s sisters had bought land and…

My Great Grandfather Tony made homemade wine. On Sundays, when the families would gather to eat, he would pour a glass of wine for each of them. It was quite a process for him to make wine. Around the time that Poppy came into the picture(1936), he would learn to…