Today is the two year anniversary of the day my ex-boyfriend and I broke up. He was my first significant love, and I was not prepared for the end when it arrived. I realize that this isn’t the type of anniversary that is traditionally circled in calendars and celebrated with gifts or cards. But it [...]
Summer has hit Philadelphia, and I am suddenly awash in olfactory remembrances.
This happens to me every year at the beginning of the hot season. I spent a lot of time in Philly while I was growing up and the vast bulk of those days were during the months of June, July and August. My mom [...]
The year I was born, May 14th fell on a Monday. I made my entrance at 12:37 pm, while all the rest of Los Angeles was eating lunch. My mom had gone into labor earlier in the day, and when she told my dad she thought it was time to go to the hospital, he [...]
I’ve had a small stack of old postcards, of both Philadelphia and Portland, sitting my computer for at least two months, waiting to be scanned and blogged. I don’t remember where I picked these postcards up, but I have three of them, all scenes of Philly from the 1940’s, all written by “Grandmamma” to [...]
I got in a conversation today with a friend about a couch she’s been trying to get rid of. It’s a denim couch she bought when she was 20. It was her first big ticket, independent purchase. She still loves it now, ten years later, even though it no longer fits in [...]
While my sister and I were growing up, our bed time rituals were similar to other kids. We had to brush our teeth, lay out clothes for the next day and kiss our parents goodnight. There were storybooks and snuggles which evolved into conversations and snuggles. Some nights we would get both [...]
I have never been one of those people who believes that grapefruit can only be eaten with a spoon, cut in two at the equator and sprinkled with sugar. I don’t have the time or patience for this kind of operation. I much prefer to consume it like a messy orange, leaning over [...]
When I was learning to drive, I took out a bush. I backed over both the curb and it, gently mauling the undercarriage of my mom’s brand new minivan in the process. The Nissan Quest proved to be resilient, regretfully the shrub did not possess the same powers of imperviousness. It happened [...]
The first time I ever went to New York City, was the summer of 1999. I fell promptly, uproariously and heartbreakingly in love with it as I walked up the stairs from Penn Station. I was smack in the middle of college, two years in and two years away from finishing and totally [...]
When I was two and a half, the ocean stole my bucket and shovel. I had been sitting, minding my own business, my legs in the water and my butt in the sand, when they were swept away. I cried and ran for my mom, but it was too late, they were gone. [...]
