After graduating from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL - where I was born - my dad was accepted to Saint John's School of Law, so the family moved to New…
Kelly, my half-sister from my dad's second marriage, briefly attended the University of Iowa, arriving for the start of second semester. Kelly grew up in North Carolina and was totally…
To avoid complications, she never kept the same address.... My mom always loved this line from the Queen song Killer Queen. I never knew why and now will not have…
My wife and I planned our trip to Southern Illinois University to view the 2024 eclipse and invited Mom to join us. As was typical, she wouldn't commit; however, after…
Soybean Potluck Second grade was my first school year in small-town, rural Iowa. All my classmates were born in the area, played together as toddlers, started school together. And then…
Until high school, I only cut my hair twice per year: the start of the school year and during the Christmas holiday break. As a result, I often had long,…
Music has always been important to me. One cash birthday gift was used to buy a small, console AM/FM mono radio. For another birthday I received a bright red Panasonic…
After our parents' divorce, Christmases were split: even years in Iowa with Mom, odd years with Dad in New York and then North Carolina. Unfairly to Mom, we enjoyed Dad…
Rye Playland is an amusement park conveniently close to my grandparent's home in Westport, CT, an easy and inexpensive place to take the grandchildren. Even though we only went a…
In September 1970, my parents bought their first house in Brooklyn just before I started kindergarten. I don't believe we immediately moved - child-proofing was likely required, or perhaps even…