I’m winning the lady lottery when you clap for my stories — I feel like I’ve won the LADY LOTTERY — cha-ching as claps reveal that anyone is interested in what I have to say. Seriously, thank you so much for reading, responding and for sharing.💋 There’s a short list of female authors who’ve hit the big time later in life and…

My Great-Grandmother’s Work as an Abortionist Doesn’t Either — In March of this year, I led a group of female writers through a 10-week program to write a personal story that was a “revelation’ to them. We performed our stories for an audience of other women. At that time, I chose to share my very private experience with abortion…

The holiday season is almost upon us; we’re all at the starting gate poised to race toward the end of the year. While many of you are still stressing about turkey and stuffing recipes, I’m in panic mode preparing for two celebrations. Hannukah, you see, will start on Thanksgiving weekend. I can almost hear other Jewish folks shaking their heads — oy vey — the planning! It’s a common joke among us Jews: the…

It would be like sitting too long in a hard chair. Or trying to walk with a pebble in my shoe. A forgotten tag in a new blouse that scratched at my back. I thought that grief would be like that. A magpie funeral. Uncomfortable and painful — but temporary. Death was still a stranger then. …

The tiny hand-painted doors and mushroom-shaped houses are nestled at the base of Ficus tree trunks, constructed inside pots or shyly peeking out under hedges. I search the small pathways and wee ladders for signs of footprints: proof of the fairies, gnomes and mythical creatures who’ve moved into our neighborhoods. …

I’ve been happily married for 30 years. OK, truthfully, most of it has been happy. What long marriage hasn’t been dented a bit? Still, I wouldn’t trade it for the single life. This is why, as we approach yet another Hallmark holiday, I’m focusing outward to help others find love. …

If we’d learned from BABY X perhaps society would be further along — I grew up in Texas, where football was at the top of the sports heap, and other athletes scuffled for attention. Players wore their tight-fitting jerseys for Friday pep rallies while our silky-haired cheerleaders twirled their short skirts on the sidelines. Everyone else ogled these high school and college celebrities. …

We’ll have memories instead of music in April — If you know, you know. First Time: That Festival in the Desert I don’t know my way the first time. I don’t realize that the wind farm will become my guidepost. The ribbon of highway will lead me past it; I’ll stare at the white metal blades slicing the pale blue sky. So many of them, as far as the eyes can…

Lighting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool isn’t enough — The first funeral I ever attended was for my Grandfather. Standing by his graveside on a steamy Miami morning, I paid attention to the despair surrounding me. Tears quietly streamed down my Grandmother’s face; my mother and her sisters bowed their heads. I cringed as the mounds of dirt thumped…