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Last summer Tali went to sleep-away camp for the first time. I knew it would happen eventually, and I was excited about it. For her. Nothing seemed appealing about not knowing where my daughter was sleeping or what she was doing all day for eight days. A year before she went I brought up the idea of her going away and she melted into sobs saying through her tears, "You mmm-ean I www-on't see you for eee-ight days?" "Never mind sweetie, " I quickly said, "there's no rush, we'll wait until you're ready." At that point I thought we were still years away. The thought of her not ever going entered my mind, but I hoped that wouldn't happen. Richard and I both loved sleep away-camp. We still talk about our respective experiences, and it has always been our dream to send our children. Camp helped us grow up. While our moms stayed up with us the night before counting out the right amount of shirts, underwear and toiletries, once we got on that...

Last month my eight year old daughter, Tali and I had "the talk." I'd been waiting for her to ask me something about the topic for at least a year. Some of her friends had already been told and I wanted to make sure she heard it from me. The opportunity presented itself in an unexpected way. We were watching the Academy Awards. Tali enjoys seeing the pretty actresses in their dresses, but at this moment a clip from the movie,   "The Kids Are Alright" was on our screen. I haven't seen the movie but the plot is about a lesbian couple raising their two children. When the children become teenagers they decide they'd like to find the man who donated his sperm to their moms. In other words, their dad . In the clip being shown the biological father and son were in a car when the son asked him why he donated sperm. He made a joke about it being more fun than donating blood and then said seriously, "I'm glad I did it." I was engrossed in the sce...

A few weeks ago my mother's favorite soap opera, "As the World Turns" went off the air. When I first heard this was happening I was mildly disappointed. Even though I hadn't watched it in years it had been a part of my life since my birth. Mom used to feed me by it and then watch the rest of it while I napped. For her it  went back much further than that. She began watching it in 1956 when it started. She thinks of all the people of Oakdale Illinois as her friends, even the characters whom she doesn't like. My NaNa (grandmother) watched it with her and it was hard for them to distinguish fantasy from the reality. When my brothers and I were old enough to understand this obsession we used to tease my mother that is, when we figured out she was talking about a tv show. Sometimes we'd hear Mom and NaNa talking and mistakenly think they were talking about real people. "Who died?" We'd ask. "Who doesn't know who their real father is? Are yo...

   Everyone told me that my son Charlie wouldn't be at his Bar-Mitzvah in diapers but I didn't believe them. Now here he is, at four and three quarters, years away from learning his Haftorah and we are officially done with diapers and cleaning soiled underwear! Charlie is our youngest and last child so whenever he hits a milestone we know we've moved on to a new phase of parenthood.    It was a long road. When he was three and a half his pre-school teacher trained him to pee pee on the potty. In her brilliance she tapped in to what he loved most: Spiderman. She would say, "Do three Spiderman pushes," and this would coax out his urine. Before long she had him standing up and really going like a little man. I had promised him that when he did go, Spiderman would call him on the phone, and call he did, in the form of my brother, father of two boys and superhero expert, Uncle Randy. Teacher Cat had succeeded where my husband and I had failed. Did we feel slighted? D...

  Ah Valentines Day. The fun holiday during my childhood when it meant homemade Valentines and cookie decorating. The dreaded holiday during college because I never seemed to be attached on February 14th and was either down in the dumps over a break-up or annoyed that all of my friends were with their significant others on that day. I do recall one fun "Anti-Valentines Day Party" where no couples were allowed.   After graduation I ignored the holiday which was easy since I spent my first year as a college graduate in Israel. When I returned as an "official" adult the blackness of that holiday had dissipated and I went on with my life, that is, until I met Richard.   Our first Valentines Day together was in 1998. He came up from LA to visit me for a romantic weekend. I surprised him with a night at a fancy hotel. He gave me a beautiful box shaped like a butterfly. We said "I love you" for the first time. I remember having a meal out and an annoying balloo...

   A little over a year ago I reconnected with an old friend.  I hadn't spoken to him in almost 10 years. We had a misunderstanding before both of us got married and neither of us made a sincere effort to clear it up. Facebook gave us the courage to try to find each other and his first message to me was about his mother's death that had happened three weeks prior. His mom, Linda, was a wonderful woman who had been kind to me throughout our friendship. I recall being at his house for a BBQ and her making sure I had enough to eat since I was a vegetarian. My friend's parents' home was always open to me and to all of his friends. I'd always admired not only how close my friend was to his mother, but how kindly he spoke to her and  never rolled his eyes when she tried to butt in to his life.    After reading his message I burst in to tears. How could I not have known? How could I not have been there for my friend while his mother was dying and his wife was giv...

   It had been a long day at our family's unsuccessful garage sale. I got up while it was still dark at 6:30am to get everything ready, and no one came until 8:30! I got rid of a few small items throughout the day, but basically it was a lot of work for very little money.    By early evening the kids were in front of the TV and I was walking in and out of the house putting things away as well as dragging them to the curb with a big "free" sign posted. Charlie had missed me. Richard had taken him out in the morning while Tali stayed with me, enjoying chatting with the strangers in our driveway and visiting the other sales on our block.   Charlie followed me outside for one of my last runs. He suddenly looked up and said, "Mommy, look at the sky." I looked up and saw beautiful pink and blue shades as the sun was getting ready to set. "Why does it look like that Mommy?' He asked.    "Because the sun is getting ready to go down Sweetie." The su...