Entering her apartment, I heard the scariest sound of all: silence. A burly EMT broke it with “I’m sorry.” His slight partner gave the details. Mom was where they found her. There was no blood to suggest a hard fall. The other EMT surmised she had a he… Continue reading
Perhaps it was good fortune that turned our children into creative individuals, but I’d like to think my spouse and I had a hand in it, too. Here are our 10 words of wisdom for parents, as well as for grandparents: 1. Encourage. My relationship with ou… Continue reading
There are constants in life. Like the seven days of the week or the bright green flowers on the wallpaper in my mom’s kitchen or my mom herself, who insisted on correcting my sisters’ and my spelling errors on our letters home from summer camp. She’d i… Continue reading
This is a story about an unlikely mix of topics: running, music, mothers, aging and a stranded blowfish. I was on an early morning run along the beach in Cape May, N.J. during a three-day getaway. It was a great run. Blue sky, shimmering water, warm te… Continue reading
“Paula, how old is your mother?” my friend Kathy asked, causing snickers among the other third-graders. “She’s, um, (never pause in the middle of a lie), she’s 39,” I said. “She is not!” Kathy howled, and the group erupted in laughter. I’m a late-in-li… Continue reading
When my mom passed away, having established guidelines for my early grieving process was a relief, giving me concrete steps to take and tasks to do. Several years on, my grief is different — less sharp, but still punctuated with unexpected moments and … Continue reading
Why is it, no matter how old we are, there’s a part of us which continues to seek our parent’s approval? My mother never was the kind of parent who believed that everything her child did was extraordinary or brilliant. A couple of years ago, I wrote a … Continue reading
Mother. Grandmother. Realtor. Baltimore Orioles groupie. These are just four of the roles that the late Thelma Knobel played in the Rowe family of Baltimore. Her daughter, Peggy, recently published a memoir— About My Mother: True Stories of a Horse-Cra… Continue reading
My mother, Anne Pols, celebrated her 87th birthday in November. In that same month, she also made her art show debut, exhibiting a half-dozen freehand colored pencil drawings at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, N.Y. She and six other residents of… Continue reading
I was 11 years old when my parents brought my younger brother and me to Manhattan to see the musical Annie. Even though we lived in Queens, trips to the “city” were a big deal. Broadway tickets cost much less than today, but still expensive for a famil… Continue reading