Musings from my driveway, my home and my heart
So macho is my father that he once removed an ingrown toenail with a hand-held drill. My brother Mike and I watched him use his fists to break up trouble at places like the old Tiger Stadium in Detroit or at Little League playgrounds in our northwest neighborhood during the 1960s. As a cop, he... Continue Reading →
My grandmother outlived five of her doctors and died just 15 months shy of her 100th birthday. I took her to many of her appointments and would watch with amusement when the docs would invariably ask her about her diet. They were seeking sage advice on how to live a long and healthy life, mentally... Continue Reading →
My mother paid me an unusual compliment shortly after my honeymoon. “You’re the first bride in our family who wasn’t drunk at the wedding,” she said, referring to my large extended Polish family and the dozens of Detroit and Hamtramck ceremonies we had attended through the years. Well, that drinking comment about other brides may... Continue Reading →
My neighborhood had a certain Lord of the Flies quality in the months that preceded the 1967 Detroit riot. Many of us were the children of cops, firemen and Detroit factory workers. Like the boys in the William Golding novel, we were governing ourselves with disastrous results — including the death of one boy. Looking... Continue Reading →
My grandmother, Rozalia Krzemienski, a Polish immigrant with a third-grade education, ran a tiny shot-and-a-beer bar for autoworkers in Detroit for 60 years. I spent my childhood summers with her, watching her deal with customers and make decisions as the small-business owner of the Rose Café, which was named after her. She taught me some... Continue Reading →
A schnauzer, a hatchet and a rosary were some of the tools my grandma relied on when she was forced into retirement at age 84 the day after my grandfather died. They ran a little shot-and-a-beer bar called the Rose Cafe on Michigan Avenue in Detroit that served Cadillac and Chrysler autoworkers. It was a... Continue Reading →
Anita's Way 