Burnt Chocolate Stories

  The service for Ruth Bader Ginsburg left me in tears. I felt the loss as deeply as that of a close friend. To see a Jewish woman of her stature being revered so deeply by so many left me sobbing. Her clerks standing vigilant over her casket in silence was riveting. The care and love by so many.  Just thinking about it gives me hope.  Because these days there's so little of it and so much fear. I can think of little else than the election looming ahead.  We've adorned Trump with so many adjectives and yet none of them seem to be enough.  He's a Stalin, a Hitler, a monster, a tyrant, a fool, a despot, an ignoramus.  But he's really just a frightened man/child looking for scapegoats to blame for his own ineptitude.  Instead of the Jews or the Capitalists, it's the Democrats or Socialists who are to blame for whatever needs blaming. Or it's the protestors who will take away your rights and destroy your homes. Only Trump can save you from whatever he thin...

Rebeccah, 1983 It’s been a challenging time.  Between my tendonitis, the state of the country, the pandemic keeping us close to home, concern for our children and grandchildren’s safety, and more has left me exhausted. On the positive side, I am one of the lucky ones, safely inside with plenty of food and no worries about how to pay the rent.  The world has turned in monstrous ways. Separate factions are digging deeper holes than ever before with no stopping in sight.  I remember when my vote mattered but I wasn’t frightened when the man (it was always a man for president until 2016) I supported did not win.  The other guy was ok enough.  That was true for most of the choices I faced at election time.  But that’s no longer true.  The divide is so deep it’s a bottomless cavern.  And the challenge we all face is to figure out how we will pull ourselves together after November 3. The 2016 election was filled with mistakes. Some sat it out...

I wrote this article when Obama and McCain were facing off for the 2008 Presidential election. When Obama won the election, everyone who had gathered together in our living to hear the results cried for happiness, believing we had arrived at a new level of compassion and understanding.  In 2016, our shock and dismay at the election results sent us to bed at 8:30. The issues then are just as relevant today. Systemic racism is as prevalent as ever.  And while McCain was a decent, capable person, we are now confronted with the most incompetent and virulent president in our history.  The stakes have never been higher. In two short months we'll make the most important decision of this century - to vote for an intelligent, caring man who will surround himself with the most brilliant individuals available.  He'll put country over politics.  His name is Joe Biden and he needs your vote. Then and Now Is there anything else to think or write about other than the ...

  To help pass the time during the pandemic, I decided to knit my children and grandchildren slippers.   The pattern is an old family favorite.   Sixteen  pairs later, I bought more yarn and switched to living room throws that had been requested.   And in the middle of my third blanket, my wrist started to ache and burn.   Bottom line, I’ve been cut off from my knitting for the next few months due to having given myself a case of tendonitis.   Typing isn’t really a good plan idea either until I’m healed.   So my current plan is to post some of my favorite stories from the past.   Hope you enjoy this one.   Bicycles After Sarah and Barry’s wedding in 1995, Steve and I moved to a small house on Division Street in Chicago, three blocks from our apartment where my motherhood years began. Instead of pushing a pram to Goudy Square, I walked our dog Emma around the neighborhood, rode my bike through the park, shopped on Michigan Avenue. Not muc...