Musings from my driveway, my home and my heart
When my husband’s Aunt Marie died in 1996, he learned he was mentioned in her will. She left him a cut-glass pickle dish that we take down from the top shelf in the cupboard and use every Thanksgiving. It is one of several items in my kitchen that I associate with the women in our... Continue Reading →
After Donald Trump’s comment that it wouldn’t hurt American children to have “two dolls instead of 30 dolls” in defense of his tariffs leading to fewer toys, I had a stunning realization. When my granddaughters come to visit, they have their pick of 32 dolls. These include vintage Barbies dressed in iconic costumes such as... Continue Reading →
Matching green stegosaurus Halloween costumes for my kids. A mama-and-baby elephant quilt for my granddaughter Eleanor. A pink linen suit I wore to my youngest son’s baptism. Felt Christmas ornaments for our first tree. A chuppah cover for a wedding made of white handkerchief material. The dozens of costumes I made one semester for the... Continue Reading →
My students grappled with some tough topics in their college application essays this year, often centering around timeless themes of love, death and money – and lighter topics such as late-night Taco Bell runs with friends and their favorite playlists. Their writing helped to launch them into prestigious undergraduate and master’s programs in systems engineering,... Continue Reading →
When I was a reporter at U.S. News & World Report in the late 1970s, I was assigned to do “mood surveys” of Midwestern towns in America. They were places like Tiffin, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, the hometowns of “real people.” Our editors came up with their selections by throwing darts at a map... Continue Reading →
When the kids running the lemonade stand down the street started accepting Venmo, the mobile payment app, my grandkids looked crestfallen. Their lemonade stand was primitive in comparison. The eight-year-old and five-year-old made change with a few coins rattling around in a tiny basket that used to hold raspberries. Their hand-lettered sign had a misspelled... Continue Reading →
My mother’s Polish Catholic wedding on May 3, 1952 in Detroit included some startling elements and Old World customs. She wore a pearl-encrusted tiara and a custom gown fit for a queen, held hands with her old boyfriend Richard at the reception, and issued a warning to the Blessed Mother in church after the ceremony.... Continue Reading →
“Sto Lat,” the traditional Polish song that says “may you live 100 years,” was one of my dad’s favorites. We sang it every year on his birthday – and he nearly made it to that milestone, dying at 95 in 2019. February 17 would have been his 100th birthday. My brother-in-law Ralph texted me recently and... Continue Reading →
During the Great Depression, my grandfather would collect pieces of coal that fell off dump trucks rumbling through alleys in Detroit and use them to heat the house for a few days. This gleaning habit also included picking up scraps of wood he would find in the garbage. Some of these he used to fashion... Continue Reading →
My mother poses next to my dad’s two-tone 1958 Ford Thunderbird in the driveway of our home in northwest Detroit. She’s dressed in a shimmery gold outfit with a quadruple strand of white beads and a wide-brimmed hat trimmed in colorful cabbage roses. Her outfit is the perfect complement to the coupe’s aqua-and-white exterior. Clotheslines... Continue Reading →
Anita's Way 