THE SOUND OF A 106 YEAR OLD GIGGLING My grandmother, Benedetta Boccaccio, turned 106 in January. She was born in 1909 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. That year, our country commemorated the 44th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death. On average, a worker earned 22 cents an hour. Sugar cost 4 cents a pound and a dozen eggs would […]
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WHAT KEEPS US TOGETHER 0:00 / 0:00 What Keeps Us Together My granddaughter Campbell is 2 and lives about 6,900 miles from Charlottesville. My grandmother, Benedetta, is 105 and lives in Connecticut, about 600 miles from here. I chat with Campbell by Skype and Facetime. I communicate with Benedetta by snail mail and telephone. Unfortunately,
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SMOKIN’ SCIENCE 0:00 / 0:00 Smokin' Science One day, my seventh grade physical sciences teacher announced mandatory participation in a science fair. Up to the day before the event, I hadn’t prepared. Hadn’t determined a research question. Hadn’t developed a hypothesis and definitely had not come to any conclusions. In my mind, the scientific method
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0:00 / 0:00 Caught in the Jaws of a Claw My exercise essay appeared in The Daily Progress today. See below: CAUGHT IN THE JAWS OF A CLAW Have you ever wanted to be someone you’re not? So, one day I was at the gym exercising on the calf-stretching machine. As you might
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MAKE A WISH A video has been making the rounds on Face Book. In it, a virtual Santa on a large screen greeted passengers in an airport lobby. As he scanned their tickets, he asked what they wanted for Christmas. People had differing reactions. The little kids stepped right up and boldly made requests. One
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JIMMY THE RECYCLER 0:00 / 0:00 Gifts from Dad Jimmy the Recycler My 87-year-old father is a yard sale addict. He drives around collecting stuff, then distributes it to family and friends. And, when my father believes you need something, he never takes “no” for an answer. Occasionally, he’ll discover a treasure, like the gilded
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SADDLE UP YOUR PIG Photo Courtesy of Donald Giannatti 0:00 / 0:00 Saddle Up Your Pig What will a mother do for love? To what lengths would she go to make her children happy? My sons expressed one great desire as we planned our summer trip to Montana. They wanted to go horseback riding in
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BENEDETTA’S BREAD Photo Courtesy of Charles Chen 0:00 / 0:00 Benedetta's Bread My grandmother, Benedetta Boccaccio, is about to turn 104 this January. For much of her life, she lived in a Cape Cod on White Street in Hartford, Connecticut. In her 100th year, my grandmother had to leave her little house. She took a
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If you have time, please listen to my 3 minute essay Locked in the Loo at the Louvre which just aired on NPR-member station, WVTF: PrumsBathroomAdventures LOCKED IN THE LOO AT THE LOUVRE Photo Courtesy of Calvin Craig 0:00 / 0:00 Locked in the Loo What kind of person travels across Europe seeing splendid sights, eating
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WHERE IN THE WORLD? 0:00 / 0:00 Where in the World? These days we communicate via cell phone, email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and who knows what else. Regardless where our children roam, we expect to be able to stay in touch with them. Furthermore, some of us live under the illusion that because we
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