This Hallowe’en my grandson was a Ninja Turtle. Donatello, to be precise: Donnie, GiGi! Wearing his Ninja Turtle pyjamas, wielding his formidable plastic sword, he wreaked cuteness on the neighbourhood. And expanded my always-growing beginner’s heart at least 2 sizes. His father AND his uncle were Ninja Turtles, more than 2 decades ago. Back when these…

Here you have them: three of my much-loved, and absolutely perfect nieces & nephews. These are my heart-sister’s daughter & son, and my niece’s husband. With them? Their beaming aunt, who is even prouder of the adults they’ve become than she was of their childhood projects & accomplishments. My niece, her beloved, and my nephew drove in just to…

This weekend is the 2nd annual sisters weekend. And I am more grateful for my sisters this year than ever. I have three — not to mention the several heart-sisters I also claim. They are all as integral to my happiness as my sight, my hearing. Each contributes her own spark to the fire that…

This is the house I identify with childhood, on the left side of this giant ‘duplex,’ with the giant screened porches upstairs. It’s a villa, with a postage-stamp yard, from when my family lived in ViệtNam. This house — so Eurasian, not American at all — imprinted for me what ‘house’ looks like. There were 3…

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