29 November 204

Published November 27, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Genre: Personal Musing
Word Count: 100

COME WHAT MAY

Every day it’s a-gettin’ closer.
Goin’ faster than a roller coaster…
I think back to the day we said our “I do’s.”
Sometimes we did. And all too often we didn’t.
Three babies came. Thankfully, one at a time—each with his own unique personality.
We weathered the lean times.
Hamburger Helper was what was for dinner.
We endured the alone times—both physical and emotional.
We survived chicken pox, broken bones and injuries requiring stitches.
Every day it’s a-gettin’ closer
Goin’ faster than a roller coaster
Life was never ever neat.
Love like yours has surely come my way.

Tomorrow marks our 53rd year of marriage. Our parents gave us six months. I guess we beat those odds. Sometimes I think we stayed together out of pure stubborness. At any rate, I’ve waxed reflective this month. Thank you for understanding. 😉

If you don’t already have an earworm, let me help. 😉

22 November 2024

Published November 20, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOPTO PROMPT © Ronda Del Boccio

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Genre: Personal Musing
Word Count: 100

MISHPOCHA

When I was a small child, we all went to the same synagogue. Passover seders and bar mitzvah receptions were epic events.

I remember how excited I was to be the flower girl at my cousin Marshall’s wedding. So nervous, walking down the aisle, I forgot to throw the petals.

We grew up, married and went our separate ways. My parents, aunts, uncles, and most of my cousins succumbed to the inevitable.

Time has scattered the rest of us to the wind. Fewer invitations, cards, or even texts are sent.
Recently I learned of Marshall’s passing—in a Facebook post.

Mishpocha is Yiddish for family. L’chaim! To Life!

15 November 2024

Published November 13, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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THE ANONYMOUS BATTLE RAGES ON!

Please, be a pal, and identify yourself in your comments. I kind of like to know to whom I’m replying to. Thank you. 😀

Genre: Hysterical Faction
Word Count: 100

HONEYMOON PHASE

I gave my parents a tour of the apartment and said, “Only $85.00 a month.”
Mom glared through tears at the black and red kitchen cabinets. “It’s a dump. You’re only eighteen. Please reconsider this.”

After our wedding, my husband and I moved into our first home—a four-room apartment in the attic of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century two-story brick house. The paper-thin walls allowed us to hear every word spoken by our pothead next door neighbors—usually uttered after midnight.

I could be a romantic and say that to us it seemed like a palace. Nah. It really was a dump.

This is the only picture we have that was taken inside the apartment. (December 1971) Sadly you can’t experience the end tables made of old barrels (speakers inside them) with cast-off marble tops. Between those was the green naugahide couch. Across from them was the portable black and white TV on rough board shelves propped up on cinder blocks.

Once satisfied that I wasn’t in a family way, our parents gave us six months….53 years ago. 😀

8 November 2024

Published November 6, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

O MERMAID BOLD

Holding up a typical swim dress, Charlotte glared at the all-male committee of the Amateur Athletic Leage “One lap in this meshuggeneh getup and a girl will sink like a stone.”
One of the men studied her proposed swimsuit on the table. “Are you suggesting women be allowed to compete? In this skimpy thing?”
“Indeed, I am, sir.”
Charlotte never wavered and in 1915 one-piece swimsuits for women were sanctioned and pools were open to both genders.
Affectionately known as Eppy, Charlotte Epstein is remembered as the Mother of Women’s Swimming in America. Nu? Who doesn’t appreciate a Jewish mother?

CLICK to learn more about this amazing woman. One of her proteges happened to be Gertrude Ederle. 😉

1 November 2024

Published October 30, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

QUEEN OF THE WAVES

Twenty-year-old Gertrude Ederle’s heart pounded as she waved to her adoring fans who thronged Manhattan’s streets shouting, “Trudy! Trudy!”
Slathered in lanolin and olive oil, she’d conquered twenty-one miles of frigid waters.
President Calvin Coolidge dubbed her America’s Best Girl.
When asked her thoughts on being the first woman to swim the English Channel, she shrugged. “I just knew it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it.”
Not only did she do it, but she did it in fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes, beating the records of the five men who swam it before her.

Of course, Trudy is one of my heroes. I’ll never go the distances she did, but I’ll forever applaud her for her role in history. For more of her story from her own mouth, friends and family CLICK HERE and HERE. (Parts 1 and 2 of a documentary.)

25 October 2024

Published October 23, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

PRELUDE TO A NIGHTMARE

The setting sun’s light made the waters of the sea sparkle. Aliseyu basked in its warmth. Hutash had been good to them today. A grand catch of fish would provide a feast for the village tonight.

Aliseyu’s father recounted histories with the other men who paddled their long tomol. Even though he’d heard it many times, Aliseyu never tired of hearing the story of Hutash leading her Chumash people over the rainbow bridge to their home by the ocean.

In the distance, a huge boat with white flags appeared. As it came closer, Aliseyu blinked. Perhaps it was a dream.

On our recent trip to California I learned of the Chumash people who all but perished at the hands of the Spanish. To learn a little more about them CLICK HERE.

******

18 October 2024

Published October 16, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Lori Wilson

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

INDIANA FARM BOY

“You’ll like Orville,” George told Corrine. “He has a great personality.”

Who hadn’t heard that line before?

However, George hadn’t lied. She found Orville to be a most charming gentleman. He regaled her with stories of farm life and how he’d been the first in his family to go beyond the eighth grade.

When he told her he wanted a college degree so he’d have a name his children could be proud of, he won her heart.

One date led to another until the day he proposed to her. “Corrine Strate,” Orville Redenbacher asked. “How do you feel about popcorn?”

*******************

As you can see, Orville Redenbacher did indeed become a name his children and grandchildren could be proud of. 😀

CLICK HERE if you have 20 minutes to learn more about this amazing man.

11 October2024

Published October 9, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

THREE STEPS AND A HOP

Ettore patted Jerry’s head. “How’s it going small fry?”

Twelve-year-old Jerry squared his shoulders, stretched to his full four-foot-three-inches, glaring up at his six-foot-tall eighteen-year-old brother. “Who you calling ‘small fry’?”

The youngest of eleven siblings, he’d always be the shortest.

Over the years his lack of height served him well as an actor and a stuntman. His hand and footprints appear in front of the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Puffing on his cigar, eighty-year-old Jerry Maren reminisced about his part in The Wizard of Oz. “Great times. That mangy mutt made better money than us Munchkins did.”

4 October 2024

Published October 2, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 100

GORT! KLAATU BARADA NIKTO!

My brother has always had a vivid imagination and a penchant for fabricating tall tales. This time I thought he’d gone too far.

“Too many sci-fi comics, kiddo,” I said. “If extraterrestrials had arrived on this planet, it would be all over the news.”

“I saw their spaceship land. They’ve set up weapons of mass destruction.”

At his insistence, we hiked to the site where I expected to have the last laugh. But now both of my hearts stand still as I watch the two-legged creatures in shiny suits lumber about their craft.

“Perhaps they come in peace,” I whisper.

And just for fun:

27 September 2024

Published September 25, 2024 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Histrionic Fiction
Word Coutnt: 100

TWIXT WOOD AND LAUGHTER

Mae West said I was all wood and a yard long. Don’t remember her? Use your little fingers and do a Google search. That is, if you’re smart enough to use a computer.

(And they call me the dummy).

I don’t say much these days. I just watch the passersby at the Smithsonian Institution. I miss my buddy, Edgar who passed away in 1978. He treated me like a son. Some say he treated me better than his own daughter. To be fair, he only included one of us in his will. I’d be upset, too, if I were her.