Author Archives: Al

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! “Anytime” came sooner than I’d imagined. Friday evening as I rode home, I started feeling some cramps. By the time I got to the bathroom, a little blood with a small clot plopped out. I called the health … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! The morning after dinner with Julia, I called the Ob clinic at Harvard Community Health Plan, intending to ask for a pregnancy test and initial appointment. “When was you last period?” asked an impersonal voice on the other … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Sunday, I alternated between anger and depression, fuming first at Howard, then myself. I feared calling anyone, afraid of their reaction, or maybe my own, the imagined words of my sister echoing in my thoughts all day. Finally, … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! “Sarah?” Howard’s familiar baritone came through clear, static-free, as if he were calling from the room next door. “Howard? Where are you?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but after all our time together, politeness came naturally. … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Janie – Sept. 28, 1978 I really did get the letter you wrote last May, but I’ve been on an extended vacation since Christmas, which is about to end this weekend…After residency, I worked in LA for Kaiser … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! “Have you polished up those hypotheses for us?” Dr. Klein asked. “We’ve got to start selecting the girls for subjects soon.” Julia had been pushing me for the better part of a year to finish up the background … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! By the end of my first clinical year at Beth Israel, I felt I’d mastered the basics of therapy. I no longer dreaded meeting a client for the first time, armed as I was with the tools Dr. … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! January, 1976 Bruce Springsteen Plays Santa Barbara “Geez, do I have the tickets!?” Somewhere past Malibu, I realised I’d left the tickets back in our sun room, keeping company with the philodendrons and African violets. “It’s a good … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! This time, I felt centered enough to write back. I’d stopped making copies of my letters to Mike, all I remember is congratulating him on finding someone with whom to share this part of his life. Then I … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Early Spring, another fat envelope from LA, another of what Mike called “Venice Stories”. OUR DOG HAS MORE FRIENDS THAN WE DO “Go get it, Buff. Come on boy, you’ve got it! OK, now bring it back!” April … Continue reading →