Sidra is my granddaughter. I began interviewing her just before her baby brother, William was born. I spoke on the record with her several times since then (6 Months Later: Being a New Sibling, Sib Interview – One Year Followup, Ten Years of Age). Now that she and her family are back in California, it […]
As I mentioned yesterday, I write my posts the day before and schedule them for the following day. It is Halloween as I write this. We are in Burbank visiting the grandkids. William still remembers me. There is a spark of recognition as I sing, What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor, the sea chanty […]
We had a great time with the kids. Today was exhausting, although I didn’t do much to exhaust myself. It was William’s first easter egg hunt, which seemed a matter of course to him, as he is always hunting for something. He is just so curious about everything, continually looking everywhere for something he hasn’t […]
Joy and Beth prepared for Will’s birthday gathering for what seemed like weeks. They commissioned a special birthday cake for the guests and one for Will himself. I didn’t know there was a special name for a kid’s cake. They call it a ‘smash’ cake. Is this just a California thing? One look at the picture […]
Last year, I interviewed my granddaughter, Sidra, just before her brother Will was born. Tomorrow (4-17-14) will be Will’s first birthday. I asked Sidra to chat with me again about her first year as a big sister. (See also Interview at 6 months.) Sidra (9 years old): Year one: I was so excited because I […]
First things first. As I mentioned yesterday, the kids have arrived. The Chicago and LA contingents converged to celebrate William’s first birthday. We’re having a great time. William is wandering all over the place, touching everything. He is curious about everything. Sidra and I had a little drawing session – we postponed the rock-painting session […]
Reexamining old photos I’ve been looking through my old photos with the idea of finding expressive and meaningful hand gestures. The photo below is a frame from one of the home movies that my father must have taken. We were on vacation in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I’m pretty sure of the date […]
The staff was very good about letting us know when Mike had to go the the hospital. Now and then he would fall or pass out for some reason and they would call the paramedics to take him to the emergency room. They always had an attendant go with him, since Mike doesn’t speak. For […]
I’ve been delving into the past again, looking at pictures of my older brother I took years ago. I originally took them to examine my relationship with him. Mike is very low functioning – what used to be called profoundly retarded, now called intellectually disabled; autistic and nonverbal. Until a couple of months ago, I […]
As part of my quest to find the best way to express myself visually, I have been reading some of the art books that I have accumulated over the years. I must admit that, for the most part I have only looked at the pictures. Of course, the best way to see paintings and other […]
