NOONA, MY ITALIAN GRANDMOTHER 0:00 / 0:00 Noona When you hear the words, Italian grandmother, what image comes to mind? A cute little old lady, wearing a crisp, white apron, hair tied back neatly in a bun? Maybe she’s smiling beatifically as she carries a plate of pasta and meatballs. She gently urges you to, […]
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LOST 0:00 / 0:00 Lost Among my family and friends, I’ve earned the dubious distinction of Most Likely to Get Lost. I started on this wayward path early on, most notably on my first job out of college—counseling juvenile delinquents (many violent) at a state mental institution. My boss asked me to attend a mini-wilderness
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O Christmas Tree Photo Courtesy of Morgane Le Breton 0:00 / 0:00 O Christmas Tree Our first Christmas tree was a pine branch stuck into a white plastic milk jug. That fall, we’d been married for only two months when I came down with meningitis. Distracted by my potential imminent demise, my husband Bruce, did
EPIPHANY ON BARRACKS ROAD This is a story about discovering human goodness on a winter day when I felt knee-deep in human crankiness…. “Don’t eat the snow as you wait for the bus!” I shouted early one cold morning, as I pushed two sons out the front door, one to middle and the other to
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GROUNDHOG ON TOP Photo Courtesy of DW at Unsplash 0:00 / 0:00 Groundhog on Top My dad is an easy-going fellow, a lover of peace, except when it comes to his garden. One summer, a groundhog moved into our yard. Each morning, my father awoke to find the remnants a groundhog feast: nibbled bits of
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ARM WRESTLING, A LOVE STORY Photo Courtesy of Angele Kamp 0:00 / 0:00 Arm Wrestling If I’d paid better attention in my high school physics class, I may never have wound up dating and later marrying my dear husband, Bruce. I met Bruce when I when a graduate student at Dartmouth College. One Sunday, his
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ROBBED! Photo Courtesy of Manish Das 0:00 / 0:00 Robbed! Years ago, a thief broke into my house and ransacked it. However, when I arrived home, it took a full ten minutes for me to recognize we’d been robbed. Why? To be honest, our little abode normally resembled the town dump. That is to say,
THE FOXGANG PUCK INCIDENT Photo Courtesy of Patrick Hendry 0:00 / 0:00 Foxgang Puck One winter evening a couple of years ago, I was arguing on the phone with my oldest son while I was trying to throw together dinner for a small crowd. I don’t remember the subject of the argument, I just remember
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PERFORMANCE ANXIETY The phrase performance anxiety has a special meaning for my husband and me. For us, the term refers to the cold sweat that covers us whenever our middle son takes to the stage or playing field. We don’t worry whether he’ll shine in the spotlight or excel in a game. Rather, we just
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LIVING IN DOUBLE WIDES Photo Courtesy of Thomas Griesbeck 0:00 / 0:00 Living in Double Wides I rarely buy shoes. If they feel comfortable, I’ll wear a pair as long as I can. Twenty-eight years ago, on the first day of our honeymoon, my husband and I used wedding money to purchase Sebago loafers at
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