About Me - Fun Facts

Of course I'd blog!

It started when I was 9, with a simple red notebook, the kind you buy in the drugstore, with the word “record” gold leaf embossed on the cover.  Inside the grid of aqua blue lines and red margins my world and observations came to life.  I needed to write things down, capture the dynamic in sound bites.  I wrote about my best friend across the street who just couldn’t get that cheerleading cheer in sync with me.  And God, what name would I pick for my pet gerbil once I got him.

With a combination of stream of consciousness while chronicling life like a scribe, I have kept a journal on and off for close to 30 years.  It has seen me through first loves, poetry, prose and lyrics, jobs, marriage, the birth of my three children, a few drafts of novels, and recent renovations on our bathroom where I learned a few Italian curse words from the contractor.

Storytelling is a vital part of keeping our heritage alive and is especially bonding for women as another way to leave a legacy.  Think of Anne Frank never having put pen to paper.  I give leather journals as special presents for loved ones and friends to share their campfire soul stories.  When my children were born, I kept a diary (and still do) for each one.

So blog and keep your life alive.

Excerpt from Robert’s diary:

August 2, 2000:  This morning, Mommy took you and Kelly to Celebrity Diner in Syosset and the first lady Hillary Clinton was there and came right over to us—cameras and all.  She is campaigning to be New York Senator.  Hillary shook Mommy’s hand and asked what your names were.  You told her you were drawing a backhoe.  She asked me to translate.  I don’t think she knew what a backhoe was.  You explained that we are a family of dinosaurs; Daddyducus, Mamadon, Kelorapture and you are, of course, THE Robosaurus.  She smiled.  The Associated Press took our picture but it never ran anywhere.

Excerpt from Kelly’s diary:

January 1, 2000.  We write this to you on the morning of the first day of the year 2000.  Although you’ve only been alive for 18 days, you lived 17 of those in the last days of the 1900s.  People will talk about all of the millennium babies born midnight and onward today but you are just as special because you are one of the last children born in the 1900s.

Excerpt from Melanie’s diary:

November 23, 2003:  Transition to our new house was tough.  Melanie was beside herself.  The first night she cried and woke up every two hours; the poor thing.  Over time she got better.  Whenever we left, she’d say “Bye new house” hoping maybe it would disappear.  She speaks full sentences at 18-months-old even using gerunds and a little questioning why?  People ask How old is she? as they carry on full-length conversations.  She sings “Give me the beat boys and free my SOLD, I want to get lost in your rocks and bold and dift away.”