In 1918, my great-grandmother, Frances Pengelski, was married with two babies under two years old, living in relative poverty in Brooklyn. I was fortunate to know my nana well. The year I […]
Lessons from Nana
Social Distancing is My Middle Name
*Note: This was written on March 10. A lot has changed in a week. Long before COVID-19, I practiced social distancing. In fact, I practice self-isolation most of the time now, […]
How Raising Monarch Butterflies Helped Prepare Me to Deal With the Coronavirus
I got into raising monarchs by accident, but once I saw the many threats to this not-quite-endangered species, I purposely set about learning all I could to help keep their population healthy […]
I’m an Immunocompromised Person. Here’s How I feel About the Coronavirus.
As an immunocompromised person, I was nervous when I heard about the Coronavirus. Of course, though, I tried to ignore the hype as much as I could. Sadly, I had more pressing […]
Cherish, Dream, Live
I have been in absolute panic mode now for almost a full week. The health scares in the news are perfectly designed to hit dead-center in the Venn diagram that comprise my […]
The Weight Dilemma
The first time my mother disparaged my weight, I was thirteen. I wore a size 7. My best friend and I were shopping, finding outfits for the fashion show our dramatic choir […]
Dear Sister: A Gratitude Letter
Dear Sister, A friend is doing a gratitude diary and it’s been helping her a lot, so I thought I’d try as well. I believe in the practice of gratitude, have seen […]
Thanksgiving
It seems almost impossible to be thankful when everything is falling apart around us. . . . Yet conventional wisdom tells us, “It’s not happy people who are grateful. It’s grateful people who are happy.” Interestingly, recent scientific research backs this up.
Spending a Life: My Sister, Cancer, and the Present Moment
These days, I write about only one subject: my sister’s cancer. It’s the only subject that feels urgent, the one that dominates my days. Even when my sister and I don’t talk […]
On Losing Weight
A rant in no particular order. 1. I need to lose weight for health reasons (blood pressure, cholesterol, stress on the joints, etc.). I’m not so enlightened that I’d be sorry to […]
