Short stories and photos shared with humor and love
I celebrated my birthday on an intermitently rainy Sunday afternoon in New Jersey. One granddaughter eagerly helped me blow out my candles, the other recoiled in horror at the flames those candles generated. Together they represent the yin and yang of birthdays on the far side of the hill. Birthdays here can be sweet celebrations [...]
The birthday boy has requested an unconventional, though apropos for him, meal. He wants everyone to eat exactly what they want, and he's offered to drive around the city collecting their goodies. So, one person will enjoy a Shamrock Shake and a McCrispy sandwich. Another will eat the Jerk Joint's oxtail. One stubborn person will [...]
On the day before her 87th birthday, my mom took a tennis lesson. She likes to keep her game sharp. It bothers her that she can’t hit the ball as hard as she did back when she used to run my dad around the court with her strategic baseline, baseline, drop shot, lob, drop shot [...]
This birthday girl does not like cake. A youngest and only daughter, our friend Janet grew up on a busy farm with her mom, dad and five older brothers. She wasn't allowed to do outside work. Those jobs are for your brothers to do, her mother told her. So, other than an occasional outing to [...]
The day before her 18th birthday, my daughter Molly took a nasty spill off her bike, which required a surgical repair of of wrist. That timing turned out to be interesting from a HIPPA and insurance point of view. She was a minor when she injured the wrist, and a legal adult when she had [...]