michaellouie

Erika, almost four, arrived home from the birthing class with Mommy and Daddy full of excitement, experiences and questions.  She met lots of other kids with their moms and dads, the moms all with big bellies.  Were they expecting her new brother too?  She talked most about seeing the brand new babies in the hospital nursery, and especially … Read more ERIKA BECOMES A BIG SISTER

Harry was my older brother.  He was five years older than I, and since my birth had mixed emotions about my existence.  For thirteen years he led an idyllic life as the favored child of our father, well at least for the first nine of those years.   From the beginning he was a beautiful child, athletic and … Read more HARRY


Everyone said that Wanda was a gypsy.  She had long shiny black hair, sharply defined facial features and an always tanned complexion.  But it was not her coloring or face that suggested “gypsy.”  It was her clothes and how she moved that linked her to wildness and to the exotic.  Wanda moved with graceful hyper-animation.  … Read more I HOPE MOM AND DAD NEVER DIE

In 1951 when I was eight, I was skinny and sickly, allergic to everything.  My front teeth protruded and the rest were crooked.  My mother feared that I might fall and knock my new permanent front ones out.  Thus it was that early that year I began going to an orthodontist, who insisted on installing a full set … Read more JERRY THE DUMMY

It was a warm, humid August evening, 1945. Fairmount Park was full and green.  The homes and apartment buildings facing the park had windows wide open.  Some had fans whirring to lighten the denseness of the air.  Within one of the apartments, Jennie, a grandmother held her two year old grandson in her arms as she finished cleaning … Read more IT’S THE WAR…WE ARE SAFE