December, 2021, at her bedside My mother was a chameleon. Adapt, she taught me; blend in, be what others expect to see. I remember suffering because of her adaptability, her conviction that everything would work out fine in the end. My father moved us to a new town every year for the first 16 yearsContinue reading “The Peacemaker”
Category Archives: Retirement
Flight from Egypt
This story won the Palo Alto Weekly’s Annual Short Story Contest in 2005 “Banu,” he whispered, kneeling on the fringed cushion by his daughter’s bedside. The lids flickered, opened. For a moment, the dark eyes flashed pain and anger, then recognition. The lips moved, managing a weak smile and a single word. “Abu.” Father. Amal’sContinue reading “Flight from Egypt”
Legacy
Summer 2023 writing class, in response to the prompt “What is your legacy?” Memories are ripples pushing against one another on a quiet lake – intersecting circles of love, pain, joy and growth. So hard to make sense of until just before they completely fade away. I spent my childhood learning my mother’s patience, adoptingContinue reading “Legacy”
The Futility of Hope
I am retiring, leaving teaching , ending a long career that routinely assigned me Herculean tasks… six impossible things before breakfast. You see, no one ever succeeds in teaching. Not completely. It is – by its very nature – well, impossible. You cannot reach all children every day. You cannot guarantee that every child learnsContinue reading “The Futility of Hope”
“And yet…”
June 3, 2020 Retirement. Graduation. It’s my last day of work, and it’s graduation day. Our 8th graders graduated this morning in a surreal ceremony in a parking lot, in the midst of a pandemic, hemmed in by curfews, boarded-up shops and the threat of martial law. And I graduated into retirement – aka theContinue reading ““And yet…””
LIFE AFTER WORK 