Hello Miami Beach Cousin, Carolyn Robbins Manley

Gathering in Mom's kitchen and eating her delicious food. Carolyn is one of two kids from mom's Uncle Benny and his wife Aunt Clover. He was a riot. And did magic tricks, pulling a quarter out of your ear.

We all grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland. And are as scattered now as the stars in the sky.

Carolyn was in Camden, NJ, attending a function of her company, which specializes in mock jury trials and jury selection.  

Very poised, she's been on television numerous times. Plus she's a lovely person. We'd be friends, I told her, if you lived around here.

Her two children are Marissa and Benjamin. Altho her husband Patrick is not Jewish, he's a mellow guy and was fine with her raising their kids Jewish.

Wonder if they have a mezuzah on their door post and

a preying mantis on their mailbox.

That's a Matisse cut-out I'm mailing to Aunt Selma in Cleveland.

 Mom looked terrific.

Patrick kept busy playing games.

Happy half-birthday to sister Donna.

We're all in our sixties - where does the time go? - except Amy who's but a kid at 59.

I'll be 69 in December since I share a birthday with


This dude needs no introduction. 

Faith sustains many people.

Mom, I said, please give Carolyn some of your stuff.

Thousands upon thousands of objects - okay, objets d'art - make it impossible for my mom to move out. No wonder she has water in the basement. The house weighs a ton.

These bookends of German Shepherds belonged to Gramma Zali. Zali was the mother of Uncle Benny, my Grandma Lily and 9 others, plus baby Gertrude who died before she was a year old.

My middle name is Zali (rhymes with Polly). 

Carolyn knew our great-Aunt Ruthie, who worked for the Miami Herald. She didn't know that our aunt suffered from one of the most painful conditions on earth:  tic de la roux or trigeminal neuralgia.

She took the antiseizure drug Tegretol for a while but finally had facial surgery that relieved the intense agony.  Her face was partially paralyzed, but the pain was gone.

Carolyn is now on her way to the Philadelphia airport in her rented Chevrolet.

Mom loaded her down with Ellen's award-winning white meringue cookies studded with chocolate chips.



While there, I feasted on salmon loaf, roasted asparagus and blubbery crunch.

Can you see me waving at the plane up in the air? Bye bye Carolyn, come back soon.