religion
A Gift from Grampy
We invited family and traveling guests to our home for brunch before they had to leave town after Tech’s bar mitzvah weekend….
My Father’s Secret
My parents have always kept secrets, but this one was kind of a doozie. …
How The Struggle To Survive Spring Break Was A Lot Like The Jews' Exodus From Egypt
This year, Spring Break fell on the same week as Passover – the Jewish holiday which commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. (Think Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments.) This year there seemed to be so many similarities between Monkey’s heinous April “staycation” in Western, New York and the oft-repeated, seemingly never-ending Passover story that I simply could not ignore it….
I Could Not Celebrate: So Kill Me
Sunday was YomHashoah, a day commemorating the six million Jews (and others) who were murdered in the Holocaust. I know Osama bin Laden wasn’t a leader who shared a western worldview, but he had his followers. Mostly, I’m uncomfortable with all this celebration over another person’s murder. Aren’t we taught not to be joyful when blood is shed?…
"Out of The Closet" by Chrissy Teague
What are you holding onto that might benefit someone else? Needs have never been greater. What better time to give than now? You may feel like you don’t have much. I understand. I’m a jobless single mother coming out of two closets. I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to give. I challenge you to do what you can. Our relatives, our friends, our neighbors need us. The quality of community is in our hands. …
Proud Not To Be A Texan
If life were a playground game of “Mother, May I,” it would seem that the Texas Board of Education has just taken one giant leap towards revisionist history. A good educator can work with any kind of textbook (even without a textbook), but it is difficult when such strong bias is presented in writing as Truth to students who simply don’t know to ask about the other sides(s) to these complex issues….