Nearly a year ago, when I wrote the blog When You Meet a Stranger’s Husband, I noted that I was rarely with family when keeping vigil. During the week I met with Ferdinand, I was fairly convinced that we would not see each other again. I was naïve to think this way since we live in the small town of Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Because the first anniversary of Isabella’s death is this week (Jan. 15), I wanted to talk about my unplanned reunion with Ferdinand. It happed on August 15; seven…

There is a long-standing joke in my family. At the funeral of a guy, the [insert clergy member of choice here] approaches the casket to begin the eulogy. He hesitates. Pauses. Fidgets a little and finally says, “His brother was worse.”

I have a pet peeve regarding eulogies. It makes me absolutely livid when the person officiating defines the person by her illness, rather than by her accomplishments, or, even worse, when a person is remembered in negative terms.

This brand of eulogy was given for an aunt of mine who had…

Interesting isn’t it that today’s children (the under three year old set) are already watching two or more hours of television or electronics play (this includes computer screen time) everyday.

Where is all this sit-down time coming from because it is taking a toll on the opportunity for normal language exchange between parent and child and the creative play that comes from mimicking what Mom or Dad is doing. I still remember the first time my now-18 year old daughter was two years old and picked up her play plastic phone,…

I have been a bit neglectful of my blogging responsibilities of late, something I don’t need to remind my VNSNY colleagues. July has been a month of transitions for me. I have a new role at work, which is both exciting and daunting. And while I am still learning to balance official responsibilities with unofficial responsibilities, and taking on new tasks while maintaining all of the old ones would seem to be what is proving to be most difficult, it is not. And this brings me to the other transition…

I am always on the look out for new ways to connect with my seniors. One of my goals for the year was to improve my ability to speak Mandarin which is a Chinese dialect spoken by many of the elderly I work with.

Despite growing up speaking Cantonese I have always had difficulty picking up additional dialects. Looking back I am amazed by the number of times I have vowed to start learning Mandarin after each of my trips to Asia. As my daughter Grace is now beginning to speak I am…

When sending your children off on errands or even to catch the corner bus, do you send them alone? At what age are they safe to step outside by themselves? Where should you draw the line? Are there alternatives for an ever-so-confident child who insists on doing things alone?

There is no magic number—every kid is different—but there are some basic guidelines you can follow for each age group.

Elementary age children should always be supervised; they do not yet have the ability to work through the kinds of problems they might…

When I wrote about organ donation in February, I knew of one example where a friend’s father donated several organs and my friend met one of the recipients. While the pre-visit jitters were not at all justified, I completely understood them.

In today’s New York Times, there is a wonderful article about a 38-year-old man who suffered a brain hemorrhage and whose wife agreed to donate his organs. In total, EIGHT people were given hope because of Julio and Mirtala Garcia’s selflessness. Mrs. Garcia met with five of the recipients last…

We all have plans for our kids. No matter how amazing those plans may be though, all plans are meant to change. Especially when kids begin articulating their own plans. As our children grow and their needs change, our long-term plans must accommodate those needs.

A lot of people have asked me what plans I have for my Autistic, teenage son. I have many plans. Some have had to change a great deal, while others have been revised based on my son’s own plans. He is lucky to be in a school that offers supervised vocational  job placement, and he is trying out different…

Caregiving for a parent is never easy, especially when that parent does not live near you. This is a problem facing many people across the country, but unfortunately, it’s a problem for which there aren’t always easy solutions.

Every situation is different. But, for some caregivers, there is the added stress of worrying about the brother or sister who is caring for the parent. I have one girlfriend who is so concerned about how her sister is handling their mother’s affairs, it sometimes keeps her awake at night. She told me that although she is concerned about her mother’s health, she has come to…

Be honest does the fact that your child can maneuver on the computer with ease worry you or are you proud of their ability? Let’s face it children today do not know what it was like pre-computers and technology and never will. They need them for school and to get information that we typically would have received from the encyclopedia (yes, they still make encyclopedias).

While there are certain great things about computers and kids, there are other aspects that are worth worrying about. Mainly the Internet — where they are…