I have become aware of many things since my husband Ray died. At first, it had to do with the content of my dreams – visual images and messages that brought me closer to feeling his presence in my non-waking hours. As time went on, that closeness has come through beautiful images I see in…
On a chilly day in February over a decade ago, I drove my mother to the hospital to visit her only sister, Emily. My mother was anxious about seeing her. Not just because of her condition, which bordered on terminal, but because of their relationship, defined by years of unspoken hurt and unfinished conversations. We…
I grew up listening to music on our family’s prized possession, a stereo system nestled deep within a richly oiled mahogany cabinet with two huge speakers that dominated the corners of our living room. Sunday mornings were dedicated to classical music, the afternoons were filled with Broadway musicals and the evenings were a potpourri ranging…
I arrived in Tucson on July 3, 1976, with nothing but a backpack, post-college dreams and a lot of sand in my shoes. The three months it took me to hitch-hike from Oberlin, OH to Tucson really took a beating on my hiking boots and the slim savings I had. My plan was simple: to…
The year was 1968: the Vietnam War was raging, psychedelic music and drugs were “in,” Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated a week before President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Beatles released the White Album to mixed reviews. I was about to enter 9th grade and amidst the free love and political…
On a hot August day in 1959, I sat cramped in the back seat of our Thunderbird among suitcases, pillows and my annoying 13-year-old brother for what seemed like the longest trip of my life. Amid melting crayons, half-eaten sandwiches and bouts of carsickness, I whined for most of the eight hours it took to…
I consider myself a fairly educated person when it comes to medical issues. True, I am not a doctor, although I often make recommendations to my family and friends as if I had completed multiple residencies. But between personal experience and having been married to a doctor for over 30 years, I definitely have a…
Hanukkah is a holiday with many names. Some call it the Festival of Lights, while others refer to it as the Feast of Rededication or the Holiday of Miracles. When I was growing up, my friends called it Jewish Christmas. But nothing could be further from the truth. Hanukkah, while deemed a minor Jewish holiday,…
In 1965, when I was just 11 years old, I bought my very first Bible. Not the “Jewish” kind, the one my friends made fun of because it opened backwards, but the Official King James Version published by Oxford University Press. I read late at night with a flashlight under the bedcovers, underlining in orange…
According to my good friend Selina, I scored a minus one on the “pamper scale” when we first met. Selina could book a massage or take time out for a cup of coffee without giving it a second thought. I, in the other hand, considered spending more than 15 minutes or $15 on a nonessential…
