I stand by my parents’ graves, as I do every year around the week of Hanukkah. It is a cool winter day; the skies are grey except for a pink cloud hanging on the horizon beyond the two cedar trees that were planted next to the graves twenty years ago. The trees are slightly crooked […]
Recent Posts
Ariela Zucker
November 22 – About Joy
At the age of 73, after much resistance, my father finally decided to retire. He tried everything to keep his job as a school principal, including a four-year assignment in South America. Finally, he succumbed to the understanding that he needed to accept his fate. I’ve followed him as he transitioned through several phases of […]
November 1 – Baby Steps
Just put one foot in front of the other and don’t worry about the length of the path. Martina Navratilova On Saturday, October 15th, we finished packing and, with our loaded cars, drove away from our motel for the last time. This is now the date I look upon as the start of my […]
August 29 – An Eye to the Future
Twenty years into my teaching career, I decided to take my first sabbatical. All four girls were, at this point, out of diapers and into public school. I was free to concentrate on myself. During the summer that preceded the school year, I walked in a daze. I was excited about the upcoming journey, which […]
August 22 – A Time Well Spent
The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. Marcus Tullius Cicero Task number two in going into my retirement plan is far from being as obvious as packing. It has to do with visualizing the coming years. Everyone I spoke with stressed the need to lay […]
August 15 – On Making Lists and Maintaining Sanity
I am trying to stay on top of the practicalities of closing our motel and moving back into our private home. I list in my head and on paper all the tasks that need to be performed prior to the moving day in the hope that a well-laid plan of action will also lessen the […]