I Remember

Please no additional reviews or ratings :) This piece was created a couple of years ago.
It's been blessed with reviews filled with helpful suggestions and comments.
I'm so glad you decided to visit my port. Thank you for taking the time to read some of
my work.


I Remember....................


listening to my dad's stories about investigating spy activity along the Virginia coastline above & below Norfolk where he was stationed during WW II;

finding a trunk filled with blackout curtains in the attic;

marveling at my grandmother's ability to pin up her long white hair;

the supergirl watch I ordered COD when I was 12;

how proud my dad was of his navy blue Ford convertible;

reading under my covers after "lights out"

those terrible dark days when JFK was assassinated, RFK was shot during his
presidential campaign, and Martin Luther King was gunned down;

the family's trip to Maine from Philadelphia each summer & the long agonizing gaps between rest stops;

the miles of beautiful wild roses that overwhelm the picket fences lining the cliff walk in York, Maine;

picnicing and painting with my mother whose favorite escape was to get out her watercolors;

digging in the garden with my mother & the long row of Rose of Sharon bushes bordering the back yard;

staying up late to play Canasta with my grandmother on school nights and being sworn to secrecy;

singing in the school chorus;

juju beads, necco wafers and baby ruths;

sneaking downstairs late at night to watch old black & white movies on the tv;

battening down for our first fierce hurricane in Maine;

inheriting my dad's love of reading;

working at my aunt's very special bookstore-- becoming her partner at age 20;

the only girl who played baseball with my brother and his friends;

my father's irrational anger cut deep;

my mother lived to please my father;

I remember having moments of great sadness watching my mother abdicate her independence,
sense of adventure, and creativity for my father;

my dear Aunt Polly was strong and deliberate and by far the most generous loving member of my family-she was a political activist, a feisty outspoken woman, and the dearest,
most alive, fully engaged person I've ever known.

my dad gave my mother a toy fire hat on her 50th birthday-she'd regularly forget that she had something cooking on the stove;

slipping undetected off the school grounds to smoke at age 14;

how thrilling it was to create an underground newspaper in high school that eventually became a regular
approved school communication;

noticing that I was trading my tall gangly tomboy frame for a that of a tall slender girl with long legs when I turned 16;

climbing out my window to ride to Valley Forge Park on the back of my boyfriend's
motorcyle to watch the sun come up before going to school;

leaving home at 16--taking an apartment with a friend in the city/getting a job

driving all over the US with a friend when I turned 18 in an old station wagon , armed with sleeping bags and our pooled savings;

visiting my brother at Yale and falling in love with his roommate;

the enduring grief I felt when my friend Tom was killed in a car at age 19;

falling in love; learning about love; finding it challenging; hanging onto my independence;

meeting a couple of smart capable young gay guys at U of Pa who were struggling with huge identity challenges--torn between pride and self-loathing- in those years before it was considered safe to come out to family and friends.

the day my cousin George died of complications from the AIDS virus. I remember the AIDS quilt project, and the piece of art George's Dad made and donated to the museum in George's name.

my mother's breakdown and how hard we worked to boost her up and keep her afloat-- she refused treatment and began drinking----many nights she'd climb the stairs, holding onto the railing for dear life, to get to bed. Somehow she pulled out of it. Through it all, I discovered a remarkably frail sensitive women hidden
behind her ladylike elegance;

Sunday sailing trips to the Isles of Shoals off Portsmouth, New Hampshire;

discovering how exciting it can be to make photographs at dusk or early in the morning while it's quiet and not fully light outside-- or immediately after a summer storm that is so virulent that the air surrounding the trees in the meadow turns purple;

my wedding day, walking on a cloud !

driving to Canada for two beautiful weeks at White Point Beach;

the first glimpse I had of Alexandra with her funny little pink feet that never stopped moving-I have strong memories of her soft sweet face, the sour-milk baby smells that I loved, and the way she looked at me when she could finally fix her eyes on one object;

winning a grant to set up a pilot photography course at the Pennsylvania School
for the deaf & discovering how smart and adept my 12-14 year old students were;

being bowled over at receiving a National Science Teacher's Foundation award for
the program;

talking to my folks about our plans to divorce one dreary wet morning in May;

cooking for days before Thanksgiving and Easter-------soaking up joyful times spent with family--overlapping sounds of children playing while the adults traded family stories and much laughter-- sipping good wine, and nibbling on desserts sitting around the lunch table for long happy afternoons;

hiking endlessly with my daughter in the Shawgunk Mts. on our visits to Mohonk in NY state for special weekend visits a few times each year during her teenage years;

I cherish my sister with love and an aching heart. She lives with a cruel illness and struggles mightily with every detail of each day;

Gus, our sweet sensitive black lab, the dog of my heart;

celebrating a decade of monthly dinners out with my best friends !

relishing each and every day working as the director of a regional arts service organization & teaching a graduate course at Drexel University in Philadelphia;

finding photographing the outdoors as great an adventure as anything I've ever done;

serving as a witness for my best friend who married when she turned
50 to a very special man with whom she is sailing around the world;

cherishing those last few years of my parent's lives-both endured very tough health challenges with courage and humor;

the thrill of a lifetime, receiving one of Pew Foundation's Leadership Grants;

watching my daughter grow up to become a lovely smart young woman who loves
people, is fun, fearless and a great daughter-- the light of my life.

Moving to Chester County from Philadelphia to live in the woods overlooking
the Brandywine River--loving that the dogs can run with the deer everyday--or try to :)

Making photographs of my surroundings;

Joining New York Writers Workshop. Finding my mentor and instructor inspiring--ultimately,
a dear very special friend.

The list continues................