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.

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…

A Life of Double Vision — 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…

An Annual Celebration of Those Annoying Critters — On January 21 — every year — it’s a big celebration in our house. It’s National Squirrel Appreciation Day! I’m thankful for many things, and my list runneth over, but I never thought squirrels would hover at the top. Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitator in North Carolina, founded National Squirrel Appreciation Day to make us aware that food sources were scarce for them in mid-winter.

Going to Dr. Bass, The Strabismus Specialist — The eye patch did nothing to stop my double vision. Then, a year later, while everyone else was doing after-school sports, I was in (drum roll, please) … eye training. Hardly worked. At all. What can we try next? We were referred to Dr. Bass in New York City. Try saying that five times fast: Dr. Bass was a strabismus specialist. A gentleman with thinning white hair and blue eyes, he held his hands together in prayer, or Namaste, position when he spoke. …