Tag: family
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Chapter 69. One Year Later.
We settled there some 48 years ago. The half-acre property sitting in the middle of an urban area gave us all we needed: space for our two cats and two dogs. And it would ultimately give us the place where we would acquire and say good-bye to more cats, dogs. . . . among them our 7 beloved…
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Chapter 66. The House is Sold.
We closed on the house yesterday. Prior to the official closing, we met with the new buyers, a couple, both lawyers in their early 30’s. I had prepared a spreadsheet of items, contractors, people who fix broken things, electrical information, swamp cooler, you know, house stuff. I also printed out information on the architect who designed the house…
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Chapter 65. A Passing
The husband of a friend died yesterday. I only met him briefly and I’ve only known her since last April when she and I worked on a fundraiser together. I liked her immediately. She is straightforward in that East Coast way. Blunt. To the point. No time for nonsense. It’s a new friendship, one I hope to nurture more deeply. …
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Chapter 64. We Live in a Hallmark Movie
I didn’t think this up. My niece, Laurie, did. I was chatting with her this morning, and she commented on the Christmas light show in our Town Center. “You live in a Hallmark movie,” she said. She’s a genius. She really is. For forty-eight years, GB and I lived in the solitude of our half-acre garden. The architecture of the…
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Chapter 63. Dementia
I have a relative with Lewy body dementia. I thought I’d write about this because of the devastating impact this form of dementia, and others, has on the family. And the patient suffering from it. You’ve heard the jokes, “Oh, dementia by the time they have it, they’ve already forgotten about it.” Not exactly true. My…
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Chapter 61. Aging sucks. Or not.
I look at my hands, and I see the same wrinkly, veined hands as my mother’s. And my grandmother’s. And it isn’t just the outward appearance of my hands. It’s the way I hold things. A little digression here. Remembering this reminds me of the years when my mom worked downtown. She added an additional thirty minutes to her commute…
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Chapter 59. My Front Porch
For forty-eight years, we lived on a secluded property. A thirty-foot-tall brick wall created the facade of the house. There were no windows so we couldn’t watch the events on the street or sidewalk. The wall was framed by three spectacular Red Bud trees. A walkway paralleled by Oregon Grape and covered by a pergola led to the front…
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Chapter 57. From April to September: What Changed
Living at Everleigh is a gigantic change in our lives. I suspect I like it more than GB does because at the house, I was responsible for everything. Shopping, repairs, maintenance, garden, meals, social calendar, chickens, dogs, cats, grandsons. I did that, plus work full-time for 48 years. He got to enjoy it. No wonder I was exhausted. Then…
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Chapter 53. La famiglia di mio marito
GB was adopted by a nice Jewish family. He was officially converted to Judaism when he was about 7. He remembers the event vividly because he and his brother, Chuck, were taken to the West Side and dipped in the waters of the mikvah, a ritual bath. He wasn’t told why it was necessary. Some 60 years later,…
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Chapter 47. Moving
Moving is horrible. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. We downsized from a 2200 square foot house, not large by today’s standards, to an 1100 square foot apartment. We downsized from a half-acre garden to a front porch and a patio. We downsized and then did it again. And again. And one more time. We took each room of our…
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Chapter 46. Alba
I guess sometime in 1978, I received a call from GB’s receptionist. She was taking belly dancing lessons and heard a story of a girl from Nicaragua who needed help. The receptionist suggested that GB and I would be the right people to do this since we were always rescuing animals and why not a little girl?…
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Chapter 40. Going Home.
In 1940, my grandparents, Louis and Celia Altberger, were living in a one-bedroom apartment in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. My mom had married the previous year and was living in Pueblo with my dad. Louis, always the man with the big ego, came home one day with a puppy in his arms. What the hell is that? Asked…
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Chapter 38. The Last Seder
I finished setting the table a little while ago. It’s set for six people: my sister-in-law, Jane, my niece, Laurie, our friends Cathy Grimes and Rick Mellicker, GB and me. As I have done for the past thirty years, I composed the Seder myself. I began hosting the Seders after my brother, Steve, died thirty years ago on…
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Chapter 33. A Few Tears
The other day, GB and I met with a realtor. I didn’t expect it, but as I began talking about selling the house, I cried. Surprised myself! I have known intellectually that selling would be difficult, but I really thought I was emotionally prepared. I wasn’t. I’m not. There are people who move frequently. That’s always amazed me because the…
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Chapter 33. A Few Tears
The other day, GB and I met with a realtor. I didn’t expect it, but as I began talking about selling the house, I cried. Surprised myself! I have known intellectually that selling would be difficult, but I really thought I was emotionally prepared. I wasn’t. I’m not. There are people who move frequently. That’s always amazed me because the…
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Chapter 26. My Brother.
I was born so my brother would have someone to torment. We grew up in the ‘50’s and it was a perfect time to be a kid. We freely roamed the streets, alleys and parks. Got on busses and went where we pleased. Walked to the movie theatre where my brother would tell me I couldn’t sit with him…
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Chapter 16. My Mother
My friend, Susan, tells me she loves my writing but that I don’t go deep. I counter with the fact that I’m not deep. My brain moves from one topic to another, travels through time, jumps ahead then back. She has complained that she wants to get to know the people I reference but that sometimes I give…
Air. 