Going to birthday parties has always been great fun for kids. When I was young I’d wear a pretty party dress and my mother would take me to the birthday kid’s house, with me proudly carrying the wrapped gift. Then we’d put on paper hats, play games, and eat cake and ice cream while the celebrant’s father took home movies as we shyly waved at the camera. A generation later things were quite different. The birthday parties I took my son to were usually themed...
My father – six years older than my mother – died in his early 80s. (See My Dad) My mom, who it seemed had never been sick a day in her life, developed a heart condition after he died and survived him by less than three years. (See My Game Mother, Still Life and Fluffy and the Alligator Shoes) In fact it seemed she’d been prescient about her own mortality. After his death she became depressed and when we reminded her how much she still had to live for – her...
When I was growing up my parents had a housekeeper named Odessa. She was a tall and stately-looking Black woman, and I adored her. In the mornings before my mother left for work Odessa arrived, made sure I finished my breakfast, and walked me the few blocks to school. And at 3:00 she’d be there to walk me home, and I’ll regale her with all that happened in school that day. Our Bronx house had three stories – my father’s medical office was on the first floor, and...
I’ve written before about 2026 McGraw Avenue, the house in the Bronx where I grew up, and in my mind’s eye I can still see every room, nook and cranny. (See Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home, Fluffy, or How I Got My Dog, Mr Bucco and the Ginger Cat , and 2026 McGraw) And now I even think wistfully about the basement. Our basement had no TV or “entertainment center”, no wet-bar, and no fancy exercise equipment. In those days if you wanted exercise you took a walk...
When I was growing up we lived on a shady street in the Bronx. Several doctors and dentists had offices on our block and my dad was one of them. He was a GP who practiced on the ground floor of our three-story house and we lived on the two upper floors “over the store”. (See Fluffy, or How I Got My Dog and The Corpse in the Office) For many years a dentist named Ben rented space in my dad’s office. Ben was a wonderfully kind and gentle man and he and his wife Eleanor became my...
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!
