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 →
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 →
“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 →
To pass out candy on Halloween this year, I had to fill out a form required by my subdivision and turn it in by October 24. No more just flipping on the porch light and putting out a simple carved pumpkin or two. The organizational effort in the neighborhood included a notice that our homeowners’... Continue Reading →
My dad Chester Pyzik saw combat action in nearly every major World War II battle in the Pacific, from Operation Galvanic in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign to Iwo Jima, all the way to the Japanese surrender at Toyko Bay. But he never fired a single shot. Instead, as a Navy yeoman first assigned... Continue Reading →
The time and date of my wedding were inconvenient for my extended Polish family, a gambling group who liked to place bets on everything from the World Series to the next pope. I got married at 5 p.m. on May 6, 1978 at Our Lady Queen of Hope church in Detroit, which coincided with post... Continue Reading →
My friends come to me for car advice because I’ve covered the global auto industry for more than 20 years. But they also stop by when they want to talk about . . .
Anita's Way 