Today, Christmas breathing down my neck, I am faced with a trip to the department of motor vehicles, a visit to the Costco warehouse store, a pile of packages to mail, and a long shopping list. I know exactly what kind of day is ahead of me. Of course, I [...]
When I was young, I was quite certain that birds had words, and if I just listened harder or at the right time or if I was able to decipher the music notes in my grandmother’s bird book, I would know what they were saying, where they were going, and [...]
My father was a father in the time before fathers jogged and took boys’ weekends and, even, God forbid, attended book club meetings. He was a father in a time when being a wage earner was a seven-day-a-week job. When a man did not take a day off because [...]
When my mother was a child in the 1920s, Sundays were for family. Relatives began arriving at the double-decker house in the city soon after Mass. A ham or roast was slid into the oven and potatoes were put on to boil ...