That would be Florence Avenue in Oakland.We moved to the house on the hill with the big backyard on Halloween weekend in 1980, just a few weeks before my first son was born.Those were the days of miracle and wonder…and Jazzercize… and Sesame Street. Dancin’ and BBQ’n in the street Even at the time, we… Continue Reading
Poxy Lady
Somehow, I managed to avoid getting chicken pox during my childhood. Never thought much about it, since I suffered through measles, mumps, appendicitis, tonsillitis, head lice, two broken arms, pneumonia, allergy shots, and a few hard knocks on the head. I thought I’d caught a break. However. One day, my three-year-old daughter comes home from… Continue Reading
Movin’ on again
My rules, so I can break ’em. I need a couple more days before I really move on to the next five years. So, in no particular order, a few extra things I need to pack into this five-year span: We were fortunate to have friends and family who really stepped up during the time… Continue Reading
So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for…
…that baby to be born already! Halloween. Not too much longer… October rolled around and the little strawberry and I went to a Halloween parade in San Francisco. Just a few more weeks to go! Spirits were high, preparations were made. Just waiting….But, alas, my November 25th due date came and went. Sure, I’d heard… Continue Reading
Life With Baby
Babies. Once they’re here, it’s hard to remember what life was like before. Life? Before?? Who can remember? Caitlin, in the pink–but still in the hospital– at 4 months My husband and I moved to a new city ten days before my due date, so not only was I living in an unfamiliar neighborhood after… Continue Reading
Leftovers!
You know how you have a little bit of something good left over and you stick it in the fridge thinking you’ll save it for a treat later and then you sort of forget about it, but not for too long, and then you find it again and it’s kind of a nice surprise?So, this… Continue Reading
…this is the sun’s birthday
1977. What a crazy year it had been: Elvis died in August, kids went nuts over Star Wars, Jimmy Carter scared everyone talking about the energy crisis, and there was a drought in California. Here it was December and it hadn’t rained in months. And ten days before my due date, we moved from Albany… Continue Reading
He was the Egg Man
His obituary doesn’t say very much. It’s written in a tiny font and takes up about a square inch of newsprint. I keep the yellowed square of paper in my jewelry box, the one I took with me the day my house burned down in 1991. The obituary states when he died: June 11, 1977,… Continue Reading
Tuna on sourdough with extra pickles
Life is good, right? We had already decided that we didn’t want to have kids. We’d been married for a few years and were enjoying life as a young married couple with three cats in a cute one bedroom apartment. Why mess things up? I had little confidence in my ability to be a parent,… Continue Reading
Doublecrossed by a Dummy
The heading of the ad in the local paper said “Recruiting for the Albany/El Cerrito Fire Department.” Listed below was information about a series of qualifying physical tests to be given at a nearby school. The tests included the dummy lift, the ladder climb and the hose pull. I asked myself: why not try out?… Continue Reading