Leaving Intel

On 15 July 2015 I worked a twelve-hour day at Intel, Corporation. No one expected me to do this; especially my management because on 15 June 2015 they informed me that I met a formula– I was to be laid off. There was a lot of emotional and intellectual confusion about this unhappy event. While…

Cloth Puzzles With Mom

Word Puzzles, Jigsaw Puzzles, Number Puzzles, Crossword Puzzles, Tangram Puzzles. All these puzzles involve solving a problem either with word clues, numerical plays on numbers or spatial proportions. Puzzles were part of our family upbringing. Both my parents liked tackling the New York Times crossword puzzle; often shuttling it between themselves during the weekday mornings….

Girl Scout Leading Mom

In Northport, New York, I joined a Brownie Girl Scout troop. Vague memories float in my mind about meeting at the church after school and doing craft projects. Then we moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. This was the fourth move in my eight-year-old life. In my third grade class some kids mercilessly teased me….

November: Cancer Awareness Month

Only a few more days left in November. A few more days to remind people about the two cancers that took my beloved husband in 2008 and my dear mother in 2010. My relationship with cancer has always been as a bystander. I watch a relative or friend grapple with imposed changes the disease brings….

Learning to Sew

Mom gave up her sewing room when my brother turned one. In that room, she had sewn each of her daughters a first communion dress; I recall mine—blue with cap sleeves. With her Singer sewing machine she carefully sewed Halloween costumes and tended to the basket of mending. While I don’t recall when she taught…

A Knitter’s Legacy

Grandma Elizabeth’s Crocheted Afghan, Margaret sleeping on it. In 2011, I participated in the community art project, “You Are the Chosen One.” We had the option of submitting words to go with our square. I have revised those words for this post. “I tell people I come from a long line of Irish American working…