Yearly Archives: 2011

Dad got old very fast when his age flopped from 85 to 86 years old. He recognized all of his neighbors and kin, and what he recognized bore little resemblance to who each was at the time. I visited him … Continue reading →

Today is Earth Day and today is Good Friday. Here we have earth sitting at the head of the table to blow out candles on one more year of pulsation. Here we have a day of the year when the … Continue reading →

Good Friday is oddly named. It’s the day, in the life of Catholics, to say the stations of the cross by walking the walk with a savior man who was too young to die and was so much better than … Continue reading →

Dad loved the color brown, which I found inexplicably hilarious. Who liked brown?Mom found his choice less humorous, I think because he lavished this preference on things that might have sported a hue more lively, more comely. He got around … Continue reading →

Aunt Dollie warrants remembrance and attention, which was what she got when she lived. I knew her as my Dad’s aunt during the 1960s and thought her exotic and stylish, as far as aunts go. Her haircolor was eggwhite, and … Continue reading →

During the 1960s, the worst part about going to confession in Immaculate Conception Church in Elmhurst was waiting in line bestride its two confessionals. We had a lot of sinners in Elmhurst and most of them went to confession on … Continue reading →

During Chicago’s April, citizens sniff a whiff of spring and exaggerate all gestures. We don’t unbutton coats. We abandon them. We don’t venture out. We explode onto sidewalks. We don’t respectfully court springy season. We grab her. Opening day at … Continue reading →

My Dad’s father Linus and stepmother Lorraine shared a house with Dad’s Aunt Fanchon and Uncle Sam in Oak Park, Illinois, less than a hour drive from our Elmhurst house but more alien than Mars, or California. They lived in … Continue reading →

During the 1960s, Mom wore the Jackie Kennedy (Onassis) look with varying degrees of success. She just wasn’t a capri-pants kind of Mom, but she wore the pill box hat, and the cutie-patootie suit like nobody’s business. She was fashion-forward … Continue reading →

I have trouble remembering the name of anybody. For a long time I ignored this handicap yet know it’s sloppy and disrespectful to humanity, who lives here just like I do. Lately, I am inspired to remember the name of … Continue reading →