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 →
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 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 →
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 →
When I was in the fourth grade at St. Mary of Redford elementary school, Sister Eudora gave us a classic assignment: what do you want to be when you grow up? “A police officer!” I wrote, explaining in great detail how much I admired my father, a Detroit Police detective. I got an A+ on... Continue Reading →
When my grandmother was 12 years old, Russian soldiers quartered on her family’s farm in Poland during the 1914 Battle of Galicia, a major conflict between Russia and Austria-Hungary during the early stages of World War I. When the family heard soldiers tramping on the road, they rushed to bury food to keep it out... Continue Reading →
Anita's Way 