ON THIS MOTHER'S DAY To the women (and men) who've mothered me over the years. To those I've mothered, and to those who've shared that mothering with me. To those caring for their elder or infirm mothers, swapping roles. To those whose mother has lived... Continue

Someone asked me about humor, and how do you learn to be funny. I said I don’t think you can learn to be funny. Either you are, or you aren’t. I told her I thought humor is often closely related to pain, that it arises... Continue

Why bother? I mean, really. They’re dead. Who cares about the past, and what difference does it make? However, there are occasions when we do something for its own sake, simply because it’s interesting or satisfying, or it feels worthwhile. For several years I’ve researched... Continue

“We’ve been brought here for a very short time, against our will, and we don’t know why.” I love that line. What is the point of our birth and life and death? Why are we here? What is our true purpose? These thoughts keep some... Continue

I’m hard-wired for formal prayer. I find myself reciting the Our Father when an earthquake hits, and oftentimes at night as I go to sleep. “How weird,” I think, stopping in the middle, but then a Hail Mary (a woman about whom I hold equally... Continue

Why write? It’s complicated. I never had any intention of becoming a writer, to externalize my life and expose it on paper. But as life would have it, I had a meltdown as the result of a course I was taking, and out of that... Continue

In 1943, my father exchanged his iceman’s uniform for a suit and tie. Union Ice Company was having financial difficulties, and Dad had enough sense to get out of the cold. Offered a management position with Sprouse Reitz, he had the option of running a... Continue