I married into a Jewish family. I joke that I had to marry a Jewish guy from New Jersey to make sure I didn’t marry a cousin because I am somehow related to ¾ of the Midwest. My husband’s last name, Zucker, is German for “Sugar.” It fits him perfectly, I might add. His father’s family immigrated to the United States in the final years of the 19th century when they were just teenagers. Solomon, my husband’s Great Grandfather, came from Bolehkiv, which has been part of Ukraine,

Our backyard is a big, leafy, tree-filled piece of nature. It is filled with small trees, tall trees, thick trees, thin trees, vines, ground cover, lily of the valley, daffodils, tall weeds that are easy to pull up, and short stubby weeds I have to dig out of the ground. It is a very fertile, fresh, and unmanicured place. We have all sorts of birds and wildlife passing through. But aside from the thorny weeds, it’s a pretty harmonious place. One day, I was standing in the bac

In the last few days several instances of hate crimes have startled the nation; many believe that the Trump campaign speeches against immigrants, some religious groups and minorities have given tacit permissions to attitudes usually kept beneath the surface by many. According to a report by NBC: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-hate-crimes-20-percent-2016-fueled-election-campaign-n733306 from a study done by a professor at California State University, hate crimes have