My mother, Theresa, was a force of nature:  Joyous, divinely artistic, unpredictable, enthusiastic and passionately invested in every moment she had the pleasure to inhabit. One sunny afternoon, when I was ten years old, after we had just finished eating tuna sandwiches at the white Formica table in our kitchen, my mother absentmindedly grabbed a black [...]

You strike a match, and light a sputtering candle.  Around you, the wind whips, threatening the flame as it struggles to take hold. Instinctively, you cup your hand protectively around the tiny tongue of fire, feeling its warmth grow against your palm.  It wouldn’t take much to squelch this dancing flame—one well placed breath, one [...]

 I don’t follow tennis much, but I am well aware of tennis stars Venue and Serena Williams, sisters who turned women’s tennis into a power game with their sheer physical domination.  Picking up the newspaper last night, I read an article about these exceptional athletes, and was struck by a statement that Venus Williams made [...]