Today is the last day of Rosh Hashanah. It’s the Jewish New Year and the first of the Jewish High Holy Days. For this holiday, the meal includes apples dipped in honey, to symbolize a sweet new year. But for me, this holiday has both sweet and bittersweet memories.
My family was not particularly observant. We followed some traditions and didn’t follow others. But when it came to the holidays, we were all in. Not as much for the religious significance as for the Continue reading
My mother once told me that when she and my father got married there were 200-plus people at their wedding, most of whom were family. Like most children, I never thought about a time when our family would stop growing and start shrinking. Children assume everyone they love will be around forever.
In actual fact, I’m lucky. Most of my family lived long and full lives. I was 15 when my great grandfather passed away, in my 20s when my great grandmother passed. One grandmother lived to 98, the other to Continue reading
I’ve been thinking a lot about my family lately. No particular reason, at least as far as I’m aware. 
Maybe it’s because of all the recent Facebook backlash. Like so many, I’m not happy about the role they played in the Russian meddling and Cambridge Analytica data breech — but am loath to disconnect because it’s such a great way to keep up to date on all the comings and goings of friends and family who live elsewhere.
Maybe it’s because of Easter and Passover. I’ve written before about how we weren’t particularly observant, but we Continue reading
After yesterday’s post was published a friend emailed me to talk about it. One of her comments was in
reference to my recollections of the Christmas lunches my father and grandfather had for their staff — her point being that it was probably those acts of kindness and generosity that were, in large part, what made their employees so loyal.
She was right, of course. My dad and grandfather treated their employees kindly, fairly and respectfully everyday, not just once a year at lunch. And in return, they had virtually
no staff turnover.
The comment got me thinking and, almost immediately, my Continue reading
Well, Chanukah and Christmas are over for another year and I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom this 
season triggers many memories.
Christmas wasn’t a holiday we celebrated when I was growing up, we didn’t have a tree or exchange gifts, but we certainly got into its joyful spirit. Ours was a close family, and we spent just about every day and evening together for that week. Good times, good food and much laughter is what I remember.
Like all kids, I looked forward to being out of school for a Continue reading
Yes, that’s me in the photo. With my dad, a very long time ago. Hard to believe I was
ever that tiny. Oh, how I adored him. We were extremely close, up to the day he died, 30 years ago. Hard to believe that, too — that it’s been so long. I still think of him every day and still miss him like crazy.
He was an amazing dad. For that matter, he was a pretty amazing human being. Kind, thoughtful, open-minded, generous, loving, loyal, honest as the day is long.
When I needed advice it was my father to whom I turned, always, even as an adult. His friends and my friends often turned to him as well, as did many members of our family. You could always count on him to be fair, objective and Continue reading
Listening to all the speeches at both the Republican and Democratic conventions and then watching as
Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, it suddenly hit me: How, when it comes to family, I won the lottery.
My maternal grandmother was one of nine children, four boys and five girls. They were all open-minded, tolerant accepting and opinionated at a time when that was not so common. They came by it honestly enough, my great Continue reading
It was Christmas time. My mother was in Toronto, visiting me. She was only
here a day or two when the call came. My grandmother had pneumonia, bacterial, and the prognosis wasn’t good.
My mother and I left for Montreal immediately, going directly to the nursing home when we arrived.
And there we stayed, all of us, me, my mother and both my aunts sitting there, in her room. Listening. A ragged breath, a beep from the monitor, a ragged breath, a beep Continue reading
Sometimes it feels like we spend so much time on the things that don’t 
matter we lose sight of the things that do. I was reminded of what really counts last Sunday.
It was my birthday. I don’t make a big deal of it. I never did. My mother used to tell me that even as a child I Continue reading
This is a photo of my mother and her identical twin sister. My mother’s the one on the left. There’s no date on the back so I 
have no idea how old they were. I’m going to say 20 or 21. They’d be 93 if they were still alive.
Ironically they both died in the month of February, although my aunt preceded my mother by several years. She died February 3, 2000. And this coming Thursday, February 26, my mother will have been gone eight years.
Can’t believe how quickly the time’s passed.
But this isn’t a post about sadness and loss. That’s not the right way to remember my mother; or my aunt, for that matter. They were way too full of life to dwell on anything but what characters they were. And what joy they brought.
They were so much alike — and not just in looks — it was freaky. Especially for me, an only Continue reading
365 And Counting 