“Do you want a part in the Christmas nativity play?” James’ grade school teacher asked him.“Of course,” he answered. "You get to be Joseph," the teacher told him.James was proud, what with his friends having to be sheep and cows and such. "What are my lines?"…
The husband knew he could not adequately care for his wife, now in the final stages of Alzheimer's. He found a compassionate facility and visited her every day. At noon for lunch. Not 11:59. Not 12:01. Noon. Every day. Until the day of a minor accident when he found himself in an Emergency Room, his arm being stitched by a nurse as the…
Some headlines give you whiplash. “Heart Left Behind on Southwest Flight.” Oh my, that doesn’t sound good. It seems that a Southwest flight was forced to turn around after a human heart (meant for donation) was accidentally left on board.…
Sherry Turkle visited a Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History with her teenage daughter. At the entrance of the show stood a cage with two grand Galapagos turtles. Magnificent creatures from a fantasy world. Feeling sorry for the turtles, and completely unmoved by the wonder…
Loving costs a lot, but not loving always costs more. "Does it hurt?" the Rabbit asked the Skin Horse (about "becoming real"). "Oh yes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "Sometimes it hurts a lot. But when you are…
Ninety-three-year-old Magalia resident Margaret Newsum feared for her life, watching the Paradise fire bearing down. She was quite immobile, still recovering from a broken back, and she stood in front of her house, waiting to die. Then she saw, out…
A businessman walks the airport concourse, on his way to baggage claim. His flight is late in arriving, and his mood is melancholy. This is the end of a long business trip; his energy spent and his emotions raw. If…
I flew cross-country this past week. That’s a chunk of hours in a confined space, in seats designed for the undernourished. I’m just sayin’. Across the aisle sit three women, one holding an infant. I catch myself saying a silent…
There was a farmer who had a lot of fields, and he kept all the birds and creatures away from his crops with traps and fences. He was very successful. But he was also very lonely. So, one day, he stood…
Today, I’m in Wilmette, IL. Where we gathered with family and friends to remember Robert Boehm, who died too young on September 13. I stand alongside Rabbi Andy Bossov. We cry and laugh and tell stories. Reminded about the fragility…
