Well, I, like the rest of America, have just been through three days of Oprah Show goodbyes. Let me begin by saying, for those who may not agree with me, I am and always have been a true fan of Oprah—the woman, the show, and the life lessons. She is a… Read full post »

Well, once again, our president has proven himself to be not just a superior multi-tasker, but one cool cat. Not only has he suffered the slings and arrows of a fractured and hysterical political right, but he has endured the ridiculous posturing of Donald Trump taking up the cause… Read full post »

“Today I am very proud of myself,” says the ludicrous combover king. This on the day he would be better hiding behind the rock he crawled out from under.

Oh, and not only does he take credit for the President’s posting of his original birth certificate on the White House… Read full post »

I used to have a modicum of respect for Mike Huckabee. He was conservative and religious—two things I am decidedly not—but seemed fair and a genuinely good person who wanted to add some reason to the political discourse. But now it seems his political ambitions have eclipsed his send of f… Read full post »

There’s a Walgreen’s Drug Store a couple of blocks from my house. I walk over there a couple of times a week. Across the street is a Starbuck’s. Usually, there is a wheelchair-bound person, or two, absent a limb, or two, waiting for donations for their lunch. Or a bed for… Read full post »

Many years ago, some friends got together and started a traditional Christmas Eve celebration for those who had no other place to go on that special night. Orphans of the storm, if you will. It started with four friends plus one brother getting together for mostaccioli and meatballs in front of… Read full post »

What the hell is going on?

Republican congressional “leaders” are “too busy” to join the President for dinner at the White House?

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA 49) is on the Bill Maher Show sounding so rational that I say to my partner, “Now there’s… Read full post »

 Chloe was at the funeral home early, looking at her beloved mother, because she was still trying to make it real that she was dead. She stared at her for a long time, but nothing changed. The figure in the coffin still looked like a wax figure of Lenora.  

Her perceptions… Read full post »

The mid-term 2010 elections are over. And I am sick at heart. By now you probably know that I am part of the JFK generation—the generation of “the best and the brightest” in politics. Right now I am asking myself what we should call the generation that just gave us Michelle… Read full post »

Meghan is studying abroad in India this semester. This is my response to her email expressing concern about our country  

Dear Nona,

I just read all about current elections...I am worried about America! What is your take on it all? I miss sipping coffee and talking politics with you.… Read full post »

 “Didn't she ask you what you wanted?” Lucy took the spaghetti bowl down from the shelf.

“You know your grandmother better than that. She never asks anyone what they want. She knows what's best. So, she looks around and finds this old bachelor who has some money. He nee… Read full post »

Arms around waists, the two women started down the long hall to the back of the house. When the sprawling Victorian had lived its rooming house days, this wide corridor had been a common area connecting a line of rooms to let which were now Zia's bedrooms. The bathroom in the… Read full post »

The great welcoming room, a place where family echoes floated back from the faded floral wallpaper, embraced her in the full mellow light of late morning. She was stretched out on the red horsehair sofa dozing her way through a book. She was here where she always came to contemplate her… Read full post »

Mary and Florence were coming home on the Cottage Grove streetcar from their jobs at Armour and Company down in the Stockyards. They were arguing which stop was closer to their house, which was on 77^th and Cottage Grove. One said it was 76^th Street; the other said 78^th… Read full post »

This is a letter I wrote after returning from a trip to Europe taken shortly after September 11, 2001. I believe it’s worth reading again today.

Dear Friends and Family,

Most of you know I’ve been in Europe the past two weeks on a long-planned trip to celebrate birthdays… Read full post »

She rose early, just at that time when the sky begins to lighten, but before the sun is actually above the horizon. It was a fresh, cool morning, soundless except for the distant braying of the donkeys.

Dressing quickly in a cotton sundress and sandals, enjoying a sense of solitude… Read full post »

Dear Carmella,

We named the baby yesterday. And believe me, when I way "we", I mean the “Royal We.”

My mother-in-law Maria Rizzo, God bless her teeth, called a family meeting at her house in the afternoon. She instructed all of us that, since We had been blessed with… Read full post »

Sally was a nun for eighteen years. Hers was an order founded in France over a hundred years ago that took pride in doing things the French way, which meant the hard way.  

For eighteen years, Sally was never naked. She wore a bathing shift when she took a bath. Her… Read full post »

The cab was a refuge that morning, even though it was one of those dingy cabs with an even dingier driver. She barely looked at the driver as she told him her destination and sank back in the lumpy, cracked seat, grateful for a moment without the necessity to do anything… Read full post »

Maria Rizzo was the most beautiful girl in Albidona. Everyone said so, but none more than Maria Rizzo. So when it came time for her to marry, which was, after all, the only way a young girl in nineteenth century Italy could leave her family home for a home of her… Read full post »

There he was.

Standing in the middle of Panepistemiu Street in Athens. The One I Was Running Away From. On Panepistemiu Street. In Athens. Saying “What are you doing here? I can’t believe it. Come and have coffee with me and my friends.” The One I Was Running Away From.… Read full post »

Is it just me, or is our political discourse being hijacked by over-the-top rhetoric? Now. Just when we’ve just elected a most rational human being to serves us as president.

Case in point: Kentucky Senatorial candidate Rand Paul saying President Obama “is un-American in his critici… Read full post »

Well, President Obama is proving what we all suspected—that it is possible to befuddle both the left and the right with even-handedness. His remarks about the proposed building of a mosque at Ground Zero in New York City have ticked off everybody, it would seem.

Although the president wa… Read full post »

My family came to this country in 1906 from a village called Albidona. Before the Internet and the GPS system, I was never able to find it on any map. I didn’t even really know how it was spelled. None of my immigrant family could read or write. They were Calabrian… Read full post »

Believe me, nothing like this could have been further from my plan for myself at twenty. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that, at that stage of my life, I had no plan for myself other than the relentless pursuit of fun. I was recovering from the recent death of… Read full post »