family – Joanne Jagoda

Grandma Stella, Summer 2008

The young woman in jeans ripped at both knees and purple dyed hair tenderly brushed
away strands on the comatose patient’s forehead and didn’t try to hold back her tears.

Ginny’s Window

Jeremy Pierce squirms on his cardboard “mattress,” pulling up the sleeping bag under his chin. The snores and moans of the other kids in the makeshift camp under the 880 freeway ripple the dark.

A Phone Call in the Afternoon

When the phone rang in the afternoon in California in November of 2024 and I heard my daughter’s voice, I knew instantly something was wrong.

Ernie’s Miracle

I will never forget him though he has been gone since 2002. He made me believe in the
resilience of the human spirit. He made me believe in miracles.

A Moment in Time

Family strolling in Hamburg Germany 1930

find a broken pencil in the back of your kitchen drawer

Most people loathe the smell of cigar smoke, but for me a whiff transports me to a long forgotten time of my youth. I can picture it. A festive Saturday evening party at my parent’s house with relatives and friends gathered for dinner. Guaranteed this was no pot luck as my mother did all theContinue reading “Cigar Smoke Memories”

7 Tips for a Successful Grandchildren Sleepover

This article appeared in Grand Magazine, September 2019 Well, you said “yes” and now you have to entertain your grandchildren, ages two and four for a weekend, which can mean up to 72 hours but who’s counting? Whether you are called Grandma, or Abuela, or Nana, or in my case Savta (Hebrew for grandmother) youContinue reading “7 Tips for a Successful Grandchildren Sleepover”