Snow Day

Snow Day

by | Jan 31, 2016 | Blog, Memories, The Spirit of Villarosa

Last weekend nearly 30 inches of snow blanketed the East Coast, including my native New Jersey.  I remember times like that when I was a child. I would sit on my bed, my nose pressed against the cold storm window as snow fell silently, covering the gray-brown winter landscape with a coat of white. I’d watch cars slip and slide as they tried to climb the hill on which our house sat. Often the oil trucks that came to fill our furnaces slid off the road while attempting to make their deliveries. (more…)

Blanche’s Birthday

Blanche’s Birthday

by | Jan 24, 2016 | Blog, Memories, What Lies Within

Each year on January 24th, I think of my sister Blanche and wonder where she is. The last time I saw her was December 1979, and the last time we spoke was in fall 1993.

During that call she informed me that she wanted nothing to do with our past. “Does that include me?” I asked. “Yes,” she answered.

I began to cry. (more…)

My Two Worlds

My Two Worlds

by | Jan 7, 2016 | Blog, Memories, What Lies Within

I will speak about my two worlds—my Orthodox Jewish childhood detailed in my memoir What Lies Within, and the discovery of my Italian Catholic birth family more than 50 years later—to a private gathering on Sunday, January 10, 2016. Stories about my second world have appeared in three anthologies and will be compiled into the memoir ‘What Took You So Long?’ scheduled to be published in late 2016.
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December 1959

December 1959

by | Dec 28, 2015 | Blog, Memories, What Lies Within

The snow-laden sky unleashed its heavy burden, and flakes descended, slowly at first, and then with greater intensity. I watched from our living room window as the crystals swirled in random patterns, blown by the wind. Eventually they began to stick to the ground, and within an hour, Hillside wore a new white coat that brightened the grayness of the New Jersey winter day. I loved snow but realized it would delay the arrival of our special guest. “Mommy, when will he get here?” I asked anxiously.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “The snowfall is growing heavier, and he may not be able to land. We’ll just have to wait.”

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