Maya performed in a ballet recital early this afternoon and I secured a front row seat for the event. Jeanine really wanted to attend as well but she is at the University of Brockport completing her final anatomy class (update: she scored a perfect 100% on her final examination). Between soccer and ballet Maya moves with both power and grace propelled by legs with muscles of steel.

My mother has been recuperating from bronchitis with us for almost two weeks now making steady progress each day. As a result of this health incident, she has decided it is time to move from her home of close to 50 years. The three story house in the historic General Electric plot of Schenectady, NY where I grew up has 8 bedrooms and a 4 room basement apartment. For a family of four it was huge. For my mother living alone it is positively cavernous. Most difficult to leave behind will be the magnificent Japanese style garden, a perennial centerpiece in the city’s annual garden show, that she created over the decades. After Maya’s performance, my mother and I made the three hour drive to Schenectady where we began the process of preparing the home for sale. Despite fond memories of my childhood home, I felt like this was the beginning of a new chapter for the family rather than the end of an era.