I have a friend named Omar who paints houses. He also happens to have only one arm. He fell out of a tree when he was a child in his native Honduras, and his family didn’t have the money to have it fixed. Gangrene set in, and he had it amputated above the elbow. The […]
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I want to express my gratitude to my ancestors for the many ways they shaped my life.
October 30th brings back memories of Mom putting the finishing touches on our homemade Halloween costumes, and us kids looking at the sky, waiting for it to grow dark. As soon as we finished supper, we would run out the door with a large paper bag—24 hours before the actual Halloween trick-or-treating began. Funny thing […]
When I go home to Buffalo, I never pass up an opportunity to visit my old neighborhood on the Upper West Side. Photo courtesy of Maria Eley.
I am headed to Valledolmo and Montemaggiore Belsito in Sicily, to learn more about my great grandparents.
Last summer, I wrote about The Healing Garden hidden behind the main building of Buffalo’s Botanical Gardens. I was fascinated to learn that hospitals are creating these gardens everywhere, now that medical science has proven nature reduces stress in both hospital patients and staff. Unfortunately, one of our close friends was diagnosed with cancer, so […]
Friday was one of those beautiful June days, when the sun kisses the skin with just the right amount of warmth and gives the landscape sharp edges. When I was young, it was the kind of day that flung me out of the house and into the street as if I was attached to the […]
A thriving Spark’s Dairy circa 1958
When I was a child, I remember how on chilly mornings in early spring, solitary figures armed with sharp knives and paper bags would leave their West Side homes on a mission both secret and urgent. This clandestine army would walk or drive along roads and parks, woods, fields, and empty lots, looking for a […]
Last summer I visited an old friend: the Botanical Gardens in the south of Buffalo. I’d had a tough year, with multiple loved ones suffering a variety of serious illnesses, and I needed a respite from the stress. My son and his girlfriend, knowing I’m a Master Gardener, suggested we visit the Botanical Gardens and […]
Growing up in Buffalo, we had a Valentine’s Day tradition that, as far as I can tell, was unique to our family. During the day, we exchanged paper valentines with our classmates, but when it grew dark, our family would wait in breathless anticipation for the annual visit of “The Big Man.” We would be […]
Every January, my father would drag out our old stiff garden hose and turn it on until the backyard was flooded, moving the nozzle every so often to ensure the ice formed as evenly as possible. We didn’t have a Zamboni machine so the inevitable bumps and divots would form over tufts of grass and […]