Category Archives: Uncategorized

As an indicator, height is a poor one and I know because I’ve been lined up according to height often. This is due, in part, to the fact that parochial schools have a great number of processions and it carries … Continue reading →

Two side yards, like parenthesis, cupped our ’50s-built Elmhurst ranch house but it was the west side yard where we got down to business. Mom hung sheets on Mondays and Thursdays along a clothesline that resembled high-tension electrical wires, only … Continue reading →

Yesterday morning, Rep.Gabrielle Giffords (D)watched her husband Mark Kelly captain the Endeavor shuttle into an orbit speed that would get you from Chicago, Il to Columbus, OH in about one minute (17,500 mph or 290 miles per minute.) It took … Continue reading →

In Elmhurst IL in the 1960-somethings, Hawthorne public grade school was strategically located across the street from Immaculate Conception Catholic grade school, setting in motion a preoccupation of US and THEM. We of the parochial persuasion had the upper hand, … Continue reading →

The best excuse I can think of for living in Chicago is that bad weather brings you closer to other people than good weather does. Three examples on this Saturday, which should be a “Tra-La!It’s May!” day, but is most … Continue reading →

Once, I bad mouthed a nun and have yet to get over it, clearly indicating the lifelong bad that careless words can do. I was 13. Sister Clarentine was our teacher and by “our” I refer to 60 of my … Continue reading →

Samson is a dog I know only second hand, which may mean something, since he is a second hand dog, meaning he had a life before he was adopted by our son’s friend. Seeing him rarely, I can’t be quoted, … Continue reading →

As a new Mom during the 1980s in Downers Grove, IL, Mr. Rogers’ TV show for wee watchers taught me the difference between grownups and babies. Babies are smarter. I latched onto the show early in our boy’s babyhood to … Continue reading →

The senior women of my Midwestern tribe tend toward lightness in language. This has the effect of living happy, which isn’t altogether true; but in some ways, it is. If speech patterns are environmental, my aunties evolved as soft-tread speakers … 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 →