Crossing Lake Michigan on the SS Badger Ferry
Turns out my one day of pure R&R this summer was spent crossing Lake Michigan on the SS Badger Ferry (our trip to New Orleans wasn't exactly R&R). Assembling this blog post was a wonderful way for me to revisit that trip, especially now that I'm still mostly confined to the house during my recovery from hip surgery. This ferry [...]
Honoring Our Roots
At our grandparents' grave - my sister, my brother and I Summer is the time of family reunions. Incidentally, just before my hip surgery, we had a family reunion of sorts on my mother's side on the occasion of my beloved uncle's sudden death. Of course the intent wasn't a family reunion, but funerals do bring people together. [...]
Hip Surgery: Some Insights from my Recovery So Far
Cover image of my favorite children's book, given to me by my American grandparents in 1968 I feel like Cinderella these days as I am recovering from hip surgery: When the timer chimes, I need stop what I'm doing and lie down again. I can't be up, doing anything, be it sitting, walking or standing, for more than [...]
The Best of New Orleans
Not a place where we could eat, but it was still fun to see Paul Prudhomme's original restaurant still operational. I have his Fork in the Road cookbook, and his Spicy Turkey Loaf is one of my staple dishes. I've often felt that if only I didn't have expectations, I wouldn't suffer disappointments. This applies particularly to travel. To [...]
Suicide Touches Almost Every Family
My great-grandfather with my grandmother, Reichenberg, 1932 "A few days before Kristallnacht, on the evening of Thursday, November 3, 1938, my great-grandfather walked up the hill to the cemetery by the crematorium in Reichenberg, found the family grave, and shot himself." Jumping Over Shadows, p. 66 I was going to write about something completely different today, but then [...]
Book Companion Post: Sanatorium Brey
Siebenhäuser Liberec Reichenberg Stadt, Sanatorium Dr. Max Brey When I visited my grandparents' hometown Liberec (Reichenberg) in the Czech Republic in 2009 on a research trip for Jumping Over Shadows, I spent a long time wandering their old neighborhood, looking for the building that could have been the Sanatorium Brey. This institution figured prominently in our family's history: [...]