Short stories and photos shared with humor and love
Hope springs eternal, especially when the bulbs and buds burst forth. We muck along through colorless days and worry spring might have forgotten us. Then, a tiny crocus sprouts near the corner fire hydrant, a pink apple blossom pokes out of the branch near your office window, and you brave a quick breath of optimism. [...]
I’m enjoying an extended, coast-to-coast run of LaLa-palooza that opens in New Jersey with two darling divas, and closes with the LA debut of another rising star. I’m in my grandma era. That means I pay closer attention to this crazy old world because I want to preserve its best assets for them. It also [...]
My sister Kathy sent me a video clip earlier this week, and I have been playing it ever since. Music doesn't just set a mood, it pretty consistently improves it. When that music is also a prayer, it can really swell your heart. My blog earlier this week about "the Prayer" reminded Kathy that my [...]
My Ukrainian grandma baked paska every year. She included a loaf in the Easter basket she hauled to the church for its annual blessing, and she sent us one too, along with apricot cookies and walnut rolls. Baba packed her care packages with surgical precision and matriarchal devotion. When those brown paper packages tied up [...]
Father Bill opened his Easter homily with a 2011 video of Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion singing "the Prayer" at Central Park. It was an unusual move for a priest who loves words so much he regularly writes his own poetry and prayers. On this holiest of Sundays, though, Father Bill let that beautiful song [...]
