The sun beats down on my head, warming my scalp. My hair feels hot to the touch. I sit in between traffic, the perfect vantage point to see cars, trucks, buses, taxis roaring by in both directions. The subway rumbles beneath my feet and the exhaust and heat rise to my nostrils. A warm breeze comes my way. […]

By now everyone has heard how fifty super wealthy parents, including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were arrested for committing fraud to get their children into college. My story – one of a young woman, who fought against all odds to get an education – will never make the news.  I grew up in an […]

I was a rebellious teen. You know the kind—the one the teachers worry about and whose parents get called down to discuss their issues. The kid who is on everyone’s watchlist for most-likely-to-go-down. Now if you are imagining some goth girl smoking pot, a skull tattooed on her forearm, you have got it wrong. I […]

I grew up in western Michigan, which was largely populated by Dutch immigrants who all seemed to have perfectly shiny, straight, white blonde hair. It was the total opposite of my frizzy, brown “Jewish” looking hair.  Our town had very few Jews living in it, so my family was always in the minority. This was […]

It was the lowest point in my life: I was in the middle of a messy divorce, on the brink of bankruptcy, and everyone was against me. I blamed God. In a fit of anger, I tore the mezuzot from my doorposts, took them to the barbecue outside, poured lighter fluid on them, and watched […]