Down Will Come Baby

It’s a warm April night in Berkeley when I get the call. We have friends over for dinner and we are out on the porch eating linguini with pesto and…

“Mommy, my ear hurts!” Crap. I can feel the fever emanating from Simon’s skin. Our family is in Boulder, Colorado visiting my Aunt Meridith. It never fails. Every vacation longer…

I feel trapped. My Grandmother Estie’s red BMW is in my mother’s driveway. The car is for me to use, just in case. But I won’t drive it. I can’t.…

My mom has breast cancer. At only 60, she is way too young to be sick. I’m on the airplane to Milwaukee alone. Saying goodbye to my children was hard,…

On the phone with my mother, I feel her out on a plan I have. I am hoping to grow up. I say, “Mom, we want to refinance our mortgage…

We disembark from the airplane into a blast of Southern California heat and sunshine. Jack carries Gus, and I watch as Simon, wide-eyed, climbs down the stairway and walks down…

My grandmother had three sisters. She and her sisters were all beautiful, intelligent, and charming. Three of them had nose jobs in their mid-twenties. The oldest, my great-aunt Maxine, did…

“Mommy, get in your spot!” Simon, strapped in to his booster seat next to his brother Gus, points confidently at the passenger seat. “See Gussy, that’s Mommy’s spot and there…

One morning when the boys are in school I pick up our mail and find a thick envelope from Naomi. It must be the wedding pictures! It has been a…

It’s the day before the wedding and Jack and I are in New York, checked in at our hotel. I’m tired, I have an ear infection, and a stress rash…

It’s one in the morning and I’m packing for the wedding. We leave in two days. I shove five pairs of “Spanx” into my suitcase. I can’t believe I need…