Marshmallows on the sweet potatoes or not? Packaged dressing? Yes or No? Why is turkey so damn expensive? Pertinent questions like this are being asked in homes throughout my neighborhood. The city. State. Country, for God’s sakes. Pertinent questions about the most over-stuffed holiday of the year. It’s Thanksgiving. Ninety-four percent of people in the United States will celebrate the holiday this year. A holiday time for counting the number around the dining room table,

“There are certain shades of blue that make me ache.” In her recent newsletter, this one titled “Shades of Blue (and Something New),”...

As a writer who has NEVER been published in the New York Times, and much more importantly as her grandmother, this is wildly...

The sight or smell of a cigarette repels me. Wretched. Disgusting. Downright stinky. Josefina Aguilar, Oaxaca Mexico Curiously, two...

My list of memorable Christmas gifts is long and oh-so-varied topped by a complete surprise of a new automobile—a station wagon—perfect...

...gets at that "wild, silky part of ourselves."

NO I didn't bake the pies. Didn't snap the green beans. Did NOT tear the sourdough loaf into chunks for the stuffing. Certainly didn't...

I was certain when I handed the roasting pan to my daughter and turned over my father’s pearl-handled carving set to my son a dozen years...

I first wrote the piece below sixteen months ago just after Sophie, my third granddaughter, and Daniel, her tall, dark, and handsome...

Sophie, the bride-to-be and avid reader, has no time for books lately – she’s getting married next Saturday. We’re all in a tizzy!...

Hummmmm. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. A medium-pitched hum without variation in tone buzzes throughout the complex. The home and park-like setting...

Just as 2023 began, I added the New York Times “Spelling Bee,” to my morning routine. It’s a puzzle in which players try to make words...

The invitation for the dreaded gift exchange stated unisex and at the bottom in barely perceptible font size, up to $100 limit. Yes, I am...

When the front door of my daughter’s home in Valley Center opened, I froze. The sight of her face—a blackish-purple swollen...

From the top shelf in the auto department of Ace Hardware, I pulled a shiny aluminum funnel, the kind for they use at Serrato’s Auto in...

I have been called a persnickety eater. Certainly, I'm an unadventurous diner. Not likely to dive into unfamiliar dishes. Especially...

The Twin Bill published today, the first day of the 2021 World Series. So many great baseball stories! Especially moving, the poignant...

“Green.” My toddler, wearing pint-sized Tony Llama cowboy boots, uttered this one-word reply to “What kind of ice cream would you like?”...

Her name is Chesapeake. Named for the Chesapeake Bay where her parents fell in love. She is the adorable red head, the fifth of my five...

My birthday this year was a bit of blur nestled in the midst of Mother’s Day, three family birthday celebrations, one Master of Arts...