The other day, I was at the mall, got into my car, fastened my seatbelt, and threw my pocketbook on the empty passenger seat beside me. When I went into “reverse,” the “Fasten Your Seatbelt” alarm sounded. It wasn’t me. “Is there someone else in the car?” I panicked, thinking…

Waiting in the Wings For Your Earth Landing — I put my hand on your mommy’s belly. “Here,” she says. “I think that’s his elbow.” It feels more like an I-don’t-know-which-part of the human body. I remember when her husband (my son) was in my belly. There was a moment when I was sitting at my desk. I was about eight months pregnant and looked down. There was the tip of his wee foot sticking out and kicking one-two-three times. Right there! It was so strange/funny/wonderful.

My Mother Sewed It All — My mother was a sewing savant. It was all about basting, bobbins, buttonholes, and everything her Singer might whip up for the grand fall debut of her daughters on First Day of School. Mom sewed everything: dresses, skirts, blouses, bathing suits, and coats. Everything but our underwear. It was the…

The Hellman’s Mayonnaise mishap — When you hear the name “Raquel Welch,” you probably think of her in that famously babacious publicity shot. She’s standing on the beach in a busty, fur bikini. The earth is parting. Mountains are falling. Volcanos are going off all over the place. It’s from the 1966 action thriller “One Million Years BC.” But when I say “Raquel Welch,” I think of something entirely different. I think of Hellman’s mayonnaise.

Keeping the bad news at bay for just a minute — What’s happening in the world — between the war in Ukraine, Trump and the January 6 hearings, the school shootings, lack of gun control, the ban on abortion, dire issues with climate control, to name only a few — is truly abysmal. May I humbly share my good news? Last…

POUND RIDGE PAST lives on — I am honored, and thrilled that my book, POUND RIDGE PAST, was selected to be included in a time capsule. …

A friend of mine once circulated this question on Facebook: “Does anyone remember getting a new pair of shoes for the first day of school?” My response: “Hell, yeah! I do!!” She came to the right person. My father (David Kogen) was an executive with Brown Shoe Company for eons…

What would my life be like without the “pirate” episode in the popsicle line at Maplewood pool when I was six-years old. (See “Part I: My World in Double Vision”). Or foregoing after-school sports for after-school eye training to strengthen my eye muscles (See “Part II: Being Called ‘The Four…