Spending an overnight with my 96-year-old mother is like staying at a spa. Flo keeps the thermostat in her apartment at sauna-high temperatures. She rarely drinks coffee or alcohol and offers green tea to guests. She doesn’t have a computer or wi-fi at her place, and there’s no T.V. in the living room. She creates […]

My brother’s in town, and he brought his trombone! Doug graduated from high school the year I was born, and I grew up listening to the jazz records he left behind when he embarked on his music career. Louis Armstrong, Hot Five and Hot Seven. King Oliver. Lil Hardin. My sisters and I went with […]

My great-niece Anita turns 17 this week, and her mom, my niece Janet, had a birthday last Saturday. I must love those two: I offered to take Janet’s youngest daughter out of their hair overnight as a gift. AnnMarie Florence Czerwinski heads to Chicago Tuesday to spend the night with her Great Aunt Betha. AnnMarie […]

Cherie Colyer (author of teen novel Embrace) regularly interviews fellow children’s book authors on her blog. This week she interviewed…me! Cherie asked a lot of good questions, and I especially appreciated having the opportunity to answer one about who my hero is: My mother is my hero. I am the youngest of seven, my father […]

My niece Jen and her husband Brian are flying in from Orlando later this morning to stay with us over the weekend. You might remember these two from a post I wrote last year when my previous Seeing Eye dog, the heroic Harper, helped me officiate Jen and Brian’s wedding. Jen and Brian will be […]