Death

In my native language, Death is a woman. We imagine that a female body hides behind the Grim Reaper’s thick rope. And let’s face it, that little get-up has always looked like a dress to me. In my mind, Death is a pruny old spinster at a family party. And you’re afraid to glance her […]

On having children – or not.

In English, the gender neutral word for sons and daughters is children. I love that. No matter how old the offspring is, they will always be their parents’ children. There’s a kind of poetic truth in that, I think. Because to my parents, my 38-year-old brother and I will always be children, even as my […]

Quarantine update

“Tell me something good. I need to hear something good.” That was the message I left F some weeks ago. Because I needed – and still do – some good news in my life. I need something to go my way. Soon. I texted him as I was watching my grandma have the tea I’d […]

Losing an unloved one

My mom’s mother died on Monday, in her sleep, after a twelve-year fight against Alzheimer’s. She was ninety four and lived in the countryside. We weren’t very close. This is what I tell people. This is the official version, fit to print. Except it’s not true. I mean, the beginning is true enough. But to […]

A condescending inspirational message to my young students

Yesterday my grandma turned 93. My father’s mother, who helped raise me and who is responsible for the parts of me I’m most proud of, is now 93 years old. I couldn’t hug her, as she’s off in the countryside with my dad in quarantine. We did Skype, though, and I saw this brittle woman, […]

A lengthy history of time

I’m just going to say it: Einstein was out of his mind when he said time is relative. There, I said it. Seventy years of scientific advances just went down the drain because I’ve made a groundbreaking discovery: time is not relative, it is inexorable and inescapable. It doesn’t matter that I don’t look 39. […]