Since my friend Ethel died recently at the age of 85, I’ve been thinking about what made her such a special soul. Ethel and I met in the 1980s at Jane Addams, the South Bronx vocational high school where she taught cosmetology and I ran the school library. Like so many of us at Addams, Ethel and I loved the school, were dedicated to our students, and forged a life-long friendship. (See Mr. October, Magazines for the Principal , and The Diary of a Young Girl) We both lived...
My aunt Babs was the last of her generation in our family when she died in Florida last year at 92. Babs and my mother’s kid brother Paul met in the Rockaways and were childhood sweethearts who went on to have a long and a very happy marriage. (See Aunt Babs and Uncle Paul, May 3, 2015) My mother was an artist and when Babs and Paul got married she painted a Rockaway beach scene for them. On the back of the canvas she wrote, “Where it all began!” My cousins...
I love theatre and go pretty regularly, often with my fellow theatre-loving friend Babs. And although we’re both pretty savvy about ordering tickets, sometimes one or the other of us screws up, and last time it was me. Here’s the story. For years Babs and I have shared a subscription to 59E59, a wonderful off-Broadway theatre company on East 59th Street whose mission is to bring new and innovative works to a New York audience. We usually love what we see there and were...
Our post-war Manhattan apartment building is undergoing a major renovation – new elevators, new lobby furniture, new carpeting, crown molding, wallpaper and lighting on all floors, and new saddles, bells and knobs for all our apartment doors. The construction company hired for the job sent a friendly crew of guys who enjoy the cookies I offer them. Yesterday as I was leaving my apartment I overheard a sweet conversation between two of the men who were working down the...
Last year at about this time I burned the top of my foot. It was very painful and looked really bad, and so I went to see Dr A, my dermatologist. He examined the wound and asked me how it had happened. For some reason I was too embarrassed to tell the whole truth, and so I was rather vague. ”Oh, it was just a kitchen accident.”, I said. ”Well”, he said, “whatever you did, you certainly got yourself a nice little third degree burn.” ”Oh dear, what will you do...
Welcome to my blog World Thru Brown Eyes! Enjoy the read and please leave a comment and tell me how this old world looks thru YOUR eyes!
