My family enjoys extravaganzas. It was my husband Vic’s style. If you can’t celebrate in a big way, why bother? I remember my surprise birthday party staged by Vic in 1968. Friends walked down the hill toward our Cayuga
Read more →Family and Friends
“What did you do before you came to Cornell?” I asked. We sat on his couch, drank red wine, and listened to Buffy St. Marie on the stereo. He was sturdy and muscular with dark curls. My
Read more →“I didn’t expect it to hurt so much,” I said in a little girl whine. My husband Vic sat next to the hospital bed where he’d been all night. “Oh no, here comes another one.” “Pant, E.
Read more →“The damned knives are still dull,” I mutter to myself. “I need Vic to sharpen them.” Just washed organic lettuce, bright baby peppers, and cucumbers drain into the kitchen sink. I gently sweep them to the maple
Read more →“What’s wrong?” I asked Patty. Patty was Mom’s aide at the skilled nursing home. She wore colorful smocks with floral prints and always smiled, but not today. Aides stood around in quiet clumps with frowns on their
Read more →“If you have your health, you have everything you need,” Dad said. He looked fit, played golf, and smoked Lucky Strikes like the doctors in Life Magazine ads and the other men in Mexico, Missouri in the
Read more →Woman Misses Fighting with Dead Husband. That’s a headline for The Inquirer. “E, leave me alone,” Vic said. I watched his cheek muscles twitch and his jaw clench. He pulled his office door toward him to shut
Read more →Where did they go? When will they come back? Will they feed me or will Cindy? Someone will. There is always someone. She fed me early and left. Lots of people were in the house, but not
Read more →“I need a hinge for an exterior door,” I tell the man at Agway. “It’s this way,” he says, waving his hand in the direction he’s walking. He’s a thick man, muscular and short. He wears a
Read more →“It’s gone,” I cried out with tears sprinting down my cheeks. Vic was building a fire at the campground where we planned to stay that night. “What’s gone?” he said. “My wedding ring,” I sobbed. “It’s not
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