I posted these memories a year ago, near the nineteenth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was called “Nineteen Years” then. I’m updating it for today, the twentieth anniversary of that terrible day. I was five months pregnant and in bed that morning nineteen years ago, thinking about getting up to packContinue reading “Twenty Years”
Category Archives: Family
Throwback Thursday: 1936 Wedding
August 1936. In the U.S. and around the world, the Great Depression lingered on. In Britain, Edward VIII had ascended to the throne earlier that year, but his scandalous affair with divorcee Wallis Simpson would lead to his abdication before the year was out. In Berlin, the Nazis were rapidly gaining power, and Jesse OwensContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: 1936 Wedding”
Memories of My Grandfather
One hundred and seven years ago today, my maternal grandfather, Ralph DeRicci, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Italian immigrants. When he passed away 12 years ago, I wrote a eulogy to read at his funeral. In honor of his birthday today, I’m reprinting it here. Memories of Ralph DeRicci 1914-2009 I rememberContinue reading “Memories of My Grandfather”
Stuff and Nonsense
Our goal is to clear out one of our storage units by the end of the month. We rented two 10-by-10-foot units a couple years ago, when we moved to our new house. We were supposed to have had several months for getting our old home ready to put on the market. During that time,Continue reading “Stuff and Nonsense”
Cuts Like a Knife
For the first time in my life, I bought a high-quality set of knives. I had decided to give the old ones to my son, who was preparing to leave for his sophomore year of college. He’s in a dorm that’s set up like an apartment building and needed kitchen stuff. So I sharpened upContinue reading “Cuts Like a Knife”
Sophomore Year Begins
He’s all moved in! We drove down to the university this weekend, spent a night in a rented apartment, and then moved Jon Morgan into his dorm on Monday morning, to begin his sophomore year of college. He is living on campus, but his dorm is set up as apartments, so he and his roommateContinue reading “Sophomore Year Begins”
Packing It In
We knew our little Prius just wouldn’t be large enough, so we rented an SUV and are loading it up to get Jon Morgan to school with all his stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a compact SUV, and we couldn’t quite get everything in it, unless one of us stays home. So we had to put theContinue reading “Packing It In”
National Geocaching Day
I just realized that today is National Geocaching Day. Do you Geocache? Geocaching is an activity that involves the use of a GPS device and instructions or clues to located containers called “geocaches” at specific locations all over the world. Anyone who has registered on the website can hide a geocache or search for one.Continue reading “National Geocaching Day”
Photo Friday: Perspective
This photo is one I took last weekend on a mountaintop in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. We were hiking on the Appalachian Trail, to reach the top of Spy Rock. We hadn’t done much hiking in some time, and were out of practice. But we made it to the top, which was atContinue reading “Photo Friday: Perspective”
College Countdown
A week from now, my son will be moved into his dorm room and preparing to start his sophomore year of college. So the push is on to have everything ready. There so many pieces to keep track of! We met with his roommate and his roommate’s parents earlier in the summer and figured outContinue reading “College Countdown”
The Petrini Page 