He was taken sooner than we expected — A little over a year ago, Uncle Harold came to live with us. He was then almost 85 years old, with multiple chronic illnesses, primary of which was his kidney disease. Besides that, he had atrial fibrillation, COPD, diabetes, lymphedema, and a myriad of other ailments. The first year here…

Change is hard — even when the reason is well-intentioned — The citizens of the tiny village of Anatevka live a precarious life, like a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a “pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck.” And how do they do it? Tradition. Everyone in Anatevka has a job to do based on these traditions. The…

A Bucket List dream come true — Looking over the excursions for Punta Cana, some looked interesting, some less so. Catamaran sailing and snorkeling, yes. Horseback riding, no. Jungle buggies, no. Cigar making, nah. Monkeyland, OMG yes! I read the description, “A unique activity in the Punta Cana area. You get to be in close proximity with…

Getting to Gaboo My Jewish name is Hudis, either the Yiddish translation of the Hebrew Yehudit (Judith), a heroine of the Israelite people, who beheaded an Assyrian general attempting to conquer the Jews or Hadassah (Esther), who defeated Haman, who was trying to exterminate the Israelites of Persia. …

On the Occasion of Our Fiftieth Anniversary You have no idea what forever is when you’re in your twenties. And, when you marry at that early age, forever seems, well, forever. You promise to live and love together for a lifetime, but since your lifetime to date has only been twenty years, that doesn’t seem so hard! …

For years she was a secret It wasn’t until my husband, Larry’s, dad died that we discovered he had been married before his marriage to Larry’s mother. When we became the keeper of his papers, we found a marriage license application, marriage license, and divorce papers. His wife’s name was Shirley and she was 18 years…

How a not special day can suddenly become extraordinarily special — It wasn’t a special day. Larry and I and our daughter Sarah’s family were in New York to visit Nanny and Poppy and were at Adventureland on Route 110 in Farmingdale. It was warm, sunny, and humid — a typical New York summer day. Nothing special. While the boys went…

But, it really wasn’t my fault, was it? — When our son, David, turned thirty, it was time for a celebration. Our daughter-in-law, Rianne, planned pizza at the house, followed by a party bus to take all the guests to a club in Ferndale. When Rianne throws a party, the booze flows — the drinks are strong and the…

And I really hate this realization — Every time we turn on the news now, we see the devastation of Ukraine — buildings, entire cities, the people. Mostly the people. What can we do but cry over the utter destruction of a nation? We watch as Ukrainians — children, old people and everyone in between — are…