Never Left Dodge
Dear That’s Life, The “go-bags” are at the door, flashlights ready and all of our outdoor furniture has been brought inside. Religiously monitoring Irene’s track as she goes up the east coast, we did not leave our home despite the call for a mandatory evacuation of this area. “I AM emergency services,” said my husband, [...]
Don’t Worry – I’m Prepared
Dear That’s Life, How many times does one need to hear the same thing over and over again before believing it? Such is what I internalized when faced with yet another advertisement for the American Red Cross’s Readiness Preparedness campaign. Print ads, billboards and posters all seem to be strategically placed, sending me a message [...]
Intense Waiters, Y’all
Dear That’s Life, With day camp ending and my girls having returned last week from sleepaway, the school year seems to be right around the corner. Some take the opportunity to get away for a couple of days, others scour stores for back to school sales, and many do a little of both. For a [...]
Forever Young
Dear That’s Life, The summer may be winding down, camp ending and back-to-school sales underway, but wedding season is still in full force. There are few things that make people feel as good about the future as young love. Smiles abound and warmth fills the room as you remember the moment you, too, walked down [...]
Time-Out for Mommy?
Dear That’s Life, I thought the conversation was over. The jury was back, the case closed. I thought I had made myself clear, but clearly, I was wrong. Now, I needed to be punished, or so concluded my younger son. The Kletzky tragedy sent every parent into a tailspin, and for good reason. In an [...]
Old Friends (Sat on the Park Bench Like Bookends)
Dear That’s Life, There is nothing like getting together with old friends. People who still call you by your maiden name, no matter how long you’ve been married or how many kids you have, because you’re still the person they remember from fifth grade. They put up with all of your craziness, know all of [...]
I Have a Bat, and I Know How to Use It
Dear That’s Life, Growing up, we never had an alarm on our house. My parents used to joke that there was nothing to be stolen anyway. “What are they going to take – books?” they would ask tongue-in-cheek. With a father who was a rabbi and a mother a curator, our valuables lined book shelves [...]
Not Your Typical ‘Ninth of Av’ Reading Material
Dear That’s Life, A principal I once worked for joked that G-d was clearly not a school administrator. If He was, so many major Jewish holidays would not have been scheduled in the first month of school. As it is, between all of the days off, you can often count the number of days in [...]
Happy I Still Float
Dear That’s Life, Funny thing about working out with a trainer is that while you are the one paying them, you are also the one in pain. Sometimes it feels as if it should be the other way around. After all, it is unclear who gets more out of these sessions: the trainer who basks [...]
Black Socks
Dear That’s Life, There are certain friends in your life that are more family than friends. You know you’re not blood relatives, although the bond between you is often tighter and stronger than some with whom you share DNA. I know I’ve said that before but it bears repeating, because it is for those individuals [...]
I Talk to Strangers
Dear That’s Life, Having been on a “Don’t talk to strangers” rampage, I fear we are raising children to be afraid rather than be warm and trusting individuals. The Kletzky tragedy was just that: a tragedy and freakish incident that was more unlikely to have occurred than being struck by lightning. Yet we all turned [...]
Cuts Like a Knife
Dear That’s Life, Is it so terrible that I look forward to the Nine Days every year with excitement and glee? Is it wrong when I joke that the Nine Days are my most wonderful days of the year? Sad but true, it has nothing to do with not being able to do laundry – [...]
