By Susan Tretakis – For me and many others, next Tuesday is Yom Kippur. In English, Yom Kippur means “the Day of Atonement” and is considered the most important holiday in the Jewish faith. Yom Kippur marks the end of the 10 Days of Awe, a period of introspection and repentance that follows Rosh Hashanah. “It is believed that those […]
The irony of writing this nearly one year after Hurricane Irma pounded South Florida while the media reports on Hurricane Florence bearing down on close friends in South and North Carolina is not lost on me. I used to say that Hurricane Wilma in 2007 gave me an enhanced respect for Mother Nature when she decided to destroy my roof. […]
Who knew? This seems to be my favorite phrase lately, but especially this past week. I’ve just come back from my annual vision exam where my eye doctor checked my vision, and noticed a “slight decrease in my distance vision due to cataracts in both eyes.” Having cataracts was not a surprise to me; however, since my vision has stayed […]
When Simon and Garfunkel released this song in 1966, I was enough of an English-major nerd to know it was based on a poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson in 1897. It is a cautionary tale about admiring someone else and being misled by appearances. Today, the poem stays with me, shocking in its clarity about the dangers of depression. […]
One of the things about getting older is that an entire new world of illnesses open up to you. And while my friends and I do not ordinarily share a park bench – which, incidentally, common sense tells me we should do – more often or not we are sharing time and space over coffee, lunch or dinner. Sometimes, we […]
There’s a great deal of talk about addiction these days; in truth, there always has been, even if that talk was couched in whispers. Today, we speak with somewhat louder voices, but still, when it hits close to us, we tend to lower our voices and attempt to look away. In 1985 I did my thesis on addiction, its causes […]
A little over two months ago, my blood work revealed what my hematologist referred to as “a critical iron deficiency.” This isn’t something new to me – with the exception of the use of the word “critical”. I have always been borderline anemic, and thanks to my Greek heritage, I have been told for years by various medical providers that […]
Obviously, I am not superior. Some background: A very good friend of mine just returned from a three week “Culinary and Photography” travel experience she recently took through Provence, Paris and Nice, France. Eager to show off her both newly acquired French culinary arts and her photographs, she invited me and a few others to taste her new recipes while […]
