In college, I dated a really nice fellow named Chuck…
Tag: friendship
Gardening
I am happily surprised by the joy I derive from gardening. My father would have observed dryly, ‘I told you so’…
Balancing Act
During the past year, the unexpected deaths or devastating traumas experienced by close friends and family have instigated intensified reflections on mortality, materialism, legacies, and the choices we make. I’d prefer to have such thoughts poke me a lot less often…
Impulse Control
A few weeks ago, I dined at a Purgatory restaurant known for its creative cocktails with a fellow I’ve known for a few years but have seen only a few times, and not since the COVID-19 pandemic’s denouement. Eighteen hours later, he’d made plans to join me for my first week at a rustic hacienda on a Pacific beach in Costa Rica. It didn’t strike me as an impulsive gesture until I mentioned it to a friend…
A Happy Reunion
I arrived at my little paradise of Playa Lagartillo on Costa Rica’s west coast a few days ago, where I resumed my cherished simple routine of rising with the sun and strolling the dusty, 150-meter-long path to the beach…
Mustard Seed
I keep this photo on my laptop desktop. It captures a banal moment in my peripatetic life. Taken on the S-Bahn (commuter train) between Berlin and Potsdam, I love it because of the way its significance has metamorphosed over time….
Last Suppers #1
Twenty years ago, I realized that some of the social moments I recalled with the greatest clarity were the meals I shared with friends or family at our last (unexpectedly last) meeting before they died….
Wondering About Wu
Around 10 p.m., the doorman rang to ask if he should allow a Chinese gentleman up, and a few minutes later, Professor Wu rang my tenth-floor doorbell. Professor Wu spoke little English, and I had trouble understanding why such a well-dressed (he always wore a suit and tie) Chinese bureaucrat would need to crash with a stranger…
Friendship
For me, the real joy of travel is less seeing marvelous sights, although I like that a lot, but rather spending time—sharing bits of my life and doing normal, everyday activities—with those whom I’ve chosen to inhabit my world…
Sisters
I have very few regrets. Undoubtedly the biggest one is the lack of a meaningful adult relationship with my only sibling. I keep a photo of us on my piano, a reminder of a time full of promise for the future, one where I see my love for her evident in the way she’s nestled in my protective arms. Big sisters remain big sisters.