I spent my teenage years in New York City. My parents divorced when I was 13 years old and we moved to the city from the suburbs. I lived with my mother. She worked two jobs for several years, as did my father, to help pay for my brothers’ college tuition. My mother hired a housekeeper, Beulah, to help out while she was working.

I spent a lot of time over those years with Beulah. She and I developed a friendship that lasted decades beyond her working for my mother. She was a remarkable person. She grew up on the Mississippi Delta in abject poverty. She lived in the South Bronx with... Read More

I attended a beautiful wedding July 4th weekend. The couple, in their early 30s, wondered in their late 20s—would they ever find love? Leslie, the bride, had attended tens of weddings of her large friendship circle. Now, it was her turn to walk down the aisle.

As in many modern weddings, the couple shared with their community their deep sense of love and respect for each other by writing their own vows and sharing their love story. It was touching. Most of us older folks had tears in our eyes.

Of course, I thought about my own wedding, some 42 years earlier. Married in my in-... Read More

When I was 8 years old, my paternal grandmother moved in with our family. My mother, who lost her mom when she was 18, was very close to her mother-in-law. My father was overseas at the end of World War II when my older brother was born. My mother was 21-years-old, with a newborn, and moved in with my grandmother. Living in a multi-generational family wasn't new to her.

I loved having my grandmother live with us. My mom worked full time and so my grandma took up the slack. In those days, I came home for lunch. I remember steaming bowls of chicken soup waiting for me. When I came... Read More

Spring is here! The trees are leafing out with their palette of green. Spring flowers are blooming everywhere and fruit trees are wearing their multi-colored blossoms. It’s nature’s moment of renewal and celebration.

This season always harkens a new start after winter’s cold and darkness. Many of us have our spring cleaning ritual—scrubbing floors and dirty corners, steam-cleaning rugs, and emptying out overstuffed closets and cabinets. It’s a time for cleaning up gardens from winter storms that left leaves and branches on lawns and flower beds.  It’s time to plant new flowers and... Read More