Ashes to ashes, dust to dust… Ashes in the form of a cross on the forehead identifies penitential believers and marks the beginning of the forty day period of prayer, fasting, and sacrifice Catholics and other Christian denominations know as Lent. The ashes are a… Read More
Growing up, I went to a Catholic girls’ school K through 12. The whole school was housed in one giant brick building with a huge playground on a full city block. The first floor housed the elementary school and extended out into a large gymnasium;… Read More
I have a t-shirt that reads, “Sorry I’m late, but I didn’t want to come.” Every time I wear this shirt out in public, I get two or three people who come up to me with some version of, “OMG. Your shirt. That’s my… Read More
So here we are less than three weeks before Christmas, and I am still ordering on line. Not that I am giving a lot of gifts to people, since our family and friends have long since decided we don’t need any more stuff and don’t… Read More
So, here we are at Thanksgiving, a time when everyone is supposed to count their blessings around the dinner table. The attitude of the season is gratitude and, in truth, while the search for reasons to give thanks might be difficult when times are tough,… Read More
It’s what I have come to call “That time of year” again — the late fall days in November between holidays when daylight savings time ends and the twinkle of Christmas lights begin to illuminate the darkness. The year is winding down, the New Year… Read More
All Hallows’ Eve is an old-fashioned term for Halloween. You seldom hear it these days, perhaps only in old New England towns or in some isolated ethnic communities. It brings to mind ancient history, Puritan superstitions, Celtic mysticism — all the myths and legends and… Read More
The romance inspired by moonlight was first given voice back in 1908 when the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth debuted Shine On, Harvest Moon in the Ziegfeld Follies. It was one of several moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era, but… Read More
When you think of deserts, no doubt you picture the great exodus scene in The Ten Commandments when Moses (Charlton Heston) leads his people out from Egypt onto the wide sands of the Sahara. Certainly, the Sahara is the quintessential desert, the largest… Read More
It was early September of 1961. I was just beginning my freshman year of high school, excited about being an upperclassman, and eager to pursue the academic classes and special extracurriculars that would pave my way to college and beyond. Already I had my sights… Read More
the narrative thread 