This year I’m thankful for persimmons

This year I’m thankful for persimmons

This year, I am especially thankful for persimmons and all they represent. My particular persimmons arrived unexpectedly, hand picked, dried and packaged from a brand new friend's backyard tree. They looked like little wheels of sunshine, all seeded and eager to please. "Hello there, little guys," I said as I opened up a little packet [...]

Bunco!

Bunco!

Oh, I’d heard about Bunco before, even subbed in a group once. But last week marked the first time I had ever shaken the dice as an honest-to-goodness member of a bunco group. “What’s next, Mahjong?” asked my son Charlie-the-New-Yorker when I told him how excited I was to play the game. “I feel like [...]

Our Irish eyes were smiling (and our Polish ones were too) at the Southside Irish Parade

Our Irish eyes were smiling (and our Polish ones were too) at the Southside Irish Parade

Sure and Begorrah we had a great time Sunday afternoon at the Southside Irish Parade. The sun and the spirits of the Kennedy and Mackey families smiled down on us as we found a spot on Western Avenue along with 200,000 of our closest friends. With more than 100 entries representing nearly every parish, union, [...]

A salute to my friend Hsing-Yi, the most interesting mom in the world

With references so casual and unassuming we have to pause a moment to let their astounding nature sink in, our friend Hsing-Yi can stop a conversation cold. "Oh, yes, that happened to me on the Amazon," she once chuckled in solidarity, as we ladies-at-lunch stopped laughing at whatever silly thing had tickled our funny bones, [...]