Writing out of my mind

by Joan Silberlicht Epstein

I have been a keen observer of people and my surroundings for as long as I can remember. I sat and I watched and I wondered. While I never took to hiding in dumbwaiters (does anyone actually have one of these?) Harriet the Spy fascinated me.

I have not always spoken up about my observations, but I have always had plenty to say. This blog is a compilation of those things. Welcome to the inside of my head!

Essays Essays

Baa Baa Black Sheep

There is one in every family, right? The great uncle who went out for cigarettes and never came back; the relative who raised her much younger adopted sister who looks remarkably like herself;

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Essays Essays

In the Blink of an Eye

An entire life can change in the blink of an eye. This is ever more true when you become a parent. I remember one day when I was pregnant with our first child. I was grocery shopping. While I was leaning over a display case to check out the produce someone took my cart.

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Essays Essays

Reunion Revelations

This weekend is my 25th college reunion. A time for returning to old haunts, reintroducing oneself to former class mates and reminiscing with long lost friends. A weekend filled with all sorts of activities, planned events and impromptu gatherings. Sounds great! And yet,

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Essays Essays

An Open Letter to My Children

Dear Children, When you think of me, and I know you do (I am your mother after all), I hope you think of me with fondness and love. That is certainly the way I think of you. I am not saying that I don’t understand that there will be times when you are angry or

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Essays Essays

Perspective

Perhaps it was time for another revelation, or perhaps it was just a brain glitch while drying my hair this morning, but I realized that I don’t really have a personal mission. In life, maybe, but not on a smaller scale. I fill my time with

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Essays Essays

A Silver Lining

A sign of hope in an unfortunate situation: That is the definition of a silver lining. That is what I have found here.
While all that has occurred in Boston since that first blast at the marathon is far greater than “an unfortunate situation”,

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Essays Essays

Beyond the Bombing

Yesterday I woke to an eerie silence punctuated by the occasional bird or police siren. This morning I am greeted by the sounds of rain hitting the roof and birds singing in the eaves. Yesterday I spent the day inside, sheltering in place,

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Essays Essays

Let My People Go

Pesach is a time during which Jews scramble to find alternatives to the starches they normally eat. What to do in place of bread, rice, noodles? Instead of focusing on substitutes this year I would like to try to focus on reducing the amount of that sort of thing I eat;

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Essays Essays

A Race to the Start

Sometimes mundane things can trigger big thoughts, like this morning when I opened the fridge. I saw the juice bottle in the door and noticed there was very little juice left in it. Not enough to fill the smallest glass in the house. Not even enough to

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Essays Essays

Spring Ahead

Daylight Savings Time is an odd thing. We set our clocks ahead to allow us to take advantage of more daylight during waking hours. This shift is somewhat lost on me as I tend not to have normal waking hours and am often up during the wee hours of the morning.

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Essays Essays

Sifting

Several years ago I helped my mother-in-law move out of a home she had lived in for over 40 years. Even though the move was not unexpected her final move was done quickly, inelegantly, and yes, sloppily. While I had made arrangements with people to

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Poems Poems

Inside Out

I sit in the corner of the exam room watching the nurse palpate my sister’s breast. My own hand rests upon my belly feeling the steady thump of the child inside. We each have something growing inside us.

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Essays Essays

A Measure of Success

My 25th college reunion is approaching. Whether or not I will attend has more to do with timing and finances than anything else, but I can’t help but wonder what I would talk about with friends and classmates long forgotten.

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Essays Essays

47 and Counting

Today was my birthday. My 47th birthday to be exact and I will admit to not having been too excited about it. Not because I am unhappy about getting older; I don’t think I have ever been distressed by the numbers. It is just that I find birthdays to come with an enormous

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