It is written that on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, we cannot be forgiven for our sins unless we physically apologize to those whom we have wronged.  We are also urged, on this holy day, to forgive those who have hurt us.  

Having more daily… Read full post »

We are driving 65 mph on the Long Island Expressway, our three children buckled up in the back seat, and our car is about to run out of gas.

"We're not gonna make it," my husband says, his voice melodramatic. 

"Just get off," I say, impatiently.  "There's a… Read full post »

I refuse to break up with them.  Ever.  I am insatiable.

Each one with a unique personality.

No two look alike. 

There are the adorable soft guys who will go anywhere with me: , Candide; The Little Prince; Sidhartha;  Ethan Frome; The Awakening; Night; Frankenstein. . . m… Read full post »

"This is so stupid!  Why can't I eat bread?"  My 14-year-old is arguing with me for the hundredth time this week.  

"It's Passover and we're Jewish,"  I reply.  "It's just what we do."

"But why?!  It's the dumbest thing!"

"We sacrifice to remember and honor our… Read full post »

We were half way through our uneventful flight home from Jamaica yesterday when the pilot came on through the intercom system.  "We're just about over Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the space shuttle is set to launch in eight minutes," he announced.   "If you watch out the right side of… Read full post »

With sundown a few hours away, I can breathe a sigh of relief:  Chanukah is almost over.  

There is so much about the "festival of lights" that I love:  how the candles from our four menorahs light up the kitchen as the bitter cold wind whips against the… Read full post »

 My daughter walking toward her grandpa's grave

 The shells and rocks crowding my dad's headstone

Dear Dad,

Last year after we visited your grave on your birthday, I gave you an update of all the things you've missed in our lives. &nb… Read full post »

When I was eight years old, I was a cereal box for Halloween. I don't remember my mother coming up with the idea or making the costume.  A few days before Halloween it was simply presented to me:  a huge box plastered with the covers of Rice Krispies, Fruit Loops,/… Read full post »

"Potatoes are the perfect food," my father said to me one day on the phone.  "They have everything you need to survive."  

Like much of the random bits of information my dad shared with me, this one came from a radio show he had listened to… Read full post »

The pale gray pavement speedily disappears underneath the front tire of the bicycle.  Little pebbles snap from side to side hitting the pedals, where my father's white sneakers go up and down.  The wind blows gently, rustling my short hair and tickling my earlobes.  

I am perched on… Read full post »

My mind shuts down in summer.  The moment my children's school-year schedules come to a halt, a stopper is plugged into my brain.  I can have a conversation.  I can walk and feed the dog.  I can even clean out closets piled high with several years' worth of junk.  The… Read full post »

Last night, as I talked to my son while laying in his bed, I watched his eyes close.  Propped up on one elbow, I stared at his peaceful face.  Sensing my gaze, he opened his eyes and looked at me.  I smiled and told him about a similar scene 11… Read full post »

My 8-year-old daughter lies on the exam chair as the doctor gingerly unrolls the ace bandage from around her broken right foot.  As he works, he jokingly chides my daughter for jumping ten feet from the top of the monkey bars to the ground, with no shoes on.  … Read full post »

Today I made an account on Formspring.me, one of the websites accused of causing a handful of teens to commit suicide recently. 

  I nervously signed on, expecting the worst.  Instead, there were three innocuous questions that popped onto my screen:  

1.  Who is the most ta… Read full post »

My 13-year-old won't get out of bed, will be late to advisory period again, and is causing my heart to beat too quickly this early in the morning.

The dirty laundry is growing like a mold that is going to take over my house, eat us all up, and… Read full post »

  My mom's running commentary on the city storefronts drove me crazy. 

My husband and I sat in the back of my parents' car like the awkward, overgrown children/newlyweds that we were.  I cringed at my mom's words:  "Yoga Zone--do you ever go there, Karin?  Dean and Deluca--t/… Read full post »

Four little letters caused my chest to ache.  

"nope"-- my son's text from school this morning.   

"Oh, well," I texted back.  "Love you!"  I hoped he wouldn't sense the forced cheer behind the words.  

Eighth-grade baseball tryouts were this week.  After not ma… Read full post »

  For as long as I can remember, I've had an obsession with maps.  I see one, with its curved lines, neatly printed words, and tangible borders, and every muscle in my body relaxes.  

Each time we embark on a  long car trip, I reach my hand into/… Read full post »

"Mommy, what year were you born?" my 7-year-old daughter asked me yesterday.  

"1969," I answered, and  heard her fingers tapping away on her itouch.  

"You're gonna die when you're 77 years old," she informed me.

"What!?"

"Yeah, it's this App I have--iDie--and it… Read full post »

As I was pulled into the vet's office this morning by my dog, Mango, who frantically inhaled the animal scents around her, I noticed a couple in their 60s sitting in the waiting room.  Their tired smiles greeted me and their eyes lovingly followed my dog's fast-paced sniffing.   They… Read full post »

I am no stranger to fear.  Having suffered from depression and anxiety disorder, I learned long ago to live with fear coursing through my blood.  I have a mind, like that of many creative people, that won't seem to quit.  Through therapy, I've trained myself to shut down the damaging… Read full post »

Whenever I inhale the pages of a book one of my kids stares at me with guarded interest.  

"Don't you just love the smell?" I ask, sniffing in deeply as I press the book over my face like an oxygen mask.

Each one of them has tried… Read full post »

When I woke up last Thursday, this is what my yard looked like. Though we worried that our early flight to Jamaica would be cancelled after such a huge snowstorm, luck was on our side and by afternoon we were breathing in the warm, salty air of the Caribbean.… Read full post »