October 31, 2024

Halloween in Brooklyn

I was 12 that year, and my friends and I dressed up in our costumes and went trick-or-treating up and down the elevators… Every neighborhood has a witch, an old person every kid avoids, out of fear of something we couldn’t exactly grasp at 12. They were so foreign to my Yankees-loving, Keds-wearing self – their thick Yiddish accents, their mouths and ears seemingly oversized for their faces, the women smelling like talcum, the men of spittle and phlegm. But the scariest of them all was Mrs. Pincus, apartment 12B.
March 29, 2024

Pilate’s Calvary

I stopped, took a deep breath, and scrambled up to the brow of the hill where I saw a large crowd gathered at the foot of one of the trees. This tree had been chopped into two pieces, with one nailed to the other, forming a crude cross.
December 25, 2023

A Matter of Tradition

Holiday traditions are a big part of every family, regardless of religion. It’s a time to gather, hold close the ones you love, and create new memories. Our family had changed. There were some traditions we needed to let go of and others to which we held tight.
December 24, 2023

Holiday Refrain

forgotten relatives; broken candy canes; whipped eggnog; red dresses; knit sweaters with Santa designs; icicles from eaves; shiny red nail polish; long airport lines; mistletoe; turkeys in ovens; waiting in line to sit on Santa’s lap; hand knit mittens with matching scarves; spinning dreidels;
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