Category Archives: Personal Memoir

It’s not really the end … (103)

Posted on June 29, 2012 by shoshwrites3

Last weekend I had a housewarming party. I’ve been in my new home for over 3 months now, and while there are still a few mini-projects to finish up, the house is basically unpacked, decorated, and settled. This party was … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Depression, Dogs, House Fire, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir, Son, Writing | Tagged AAA insurance, Bastrop fires, blogging, Buddy, burn unit, colleagues, contractor, daughter, dogs, empty nest, ER, fire, house fire, housewarming party, insurance, mental illness, my life, personal memoir, realtors, Rosie, smoke inhalation, son's depression, Specialty Restoration of Texas, writing | 8 Comments

Seeking Closure (102)

Posted on June 17, 2012 by shoshwrites3

Are we there yet? I knew that reaching the one-year anniversary of my house fire would not bring full closure, but I guess I was hoping deep down that I’d be able to close the door firmly on this episode … Continue reading →

Posted in House Fire, My Life, Personal Memoir | Tagged closure after crisis, ER, family, fire, fire anniversary, house fire, insurance, my life, personal memoir, personal property, post-trauma, recovering from fire | 1 Comment

Deja vu (101)

Posted on June 5, 2012 by shoshwrites3

The past week I had an eerie feeling of deja vu. My daughter Sarah was soon to return home for the summer, just as she had last year about this time, and she was returning to a unknown house and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Daughter, Depression, Downscaling, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir | Tagged daughter, deja-vu, Downscaling, empty nest, family, fire, house, insurance, moving, my life, personal memoir, son, son's depression | 1 Comment

One Year Anniversary (99)

Posted on May 13, 2012 by shoshwrites3

As I write this chapter, it is exactly one year since I got the call from my neighbor, while I was getting off the airplane, telling me there was a fire at my house and my son was on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Depression, Family Crisis, House Fire, My Life, Personal Memoir, Son, Stress, Turkey, Uncategorized | Tagged BAMC, Bastrop fires, Brooke Army Medical Center, change, daughter, dogs, empty nest, father's death, fire, fire anniversary, house, immigration laws, insurance, miscarriage, my life, personal memoir, post-trauma stress, reactions, smoke inhalation, son, son's depression | 3 Comments

Unpacking Memories (98)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by shoshwrites3

Muchos libros. Carlos, the man installing my new windows, said this as he saw me trying to organize the piles and piles of unpacked books stacked haphazardly on shelves in my study. They’re not just books, I told him. They’re memories … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Personal Memoir | Tagged books, books as memories, children's books, fire, furniture, German, Jewish, Judaism, memories, moving, my life, personal memoir, Russian, soccer, Spanish | Leave a comment

One Person’s Junk (97)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by shoshwrites3

Unpacking one’s possessions is a process of discovery. Or rather, rediscovery. I’ve moved often enough in my life, packing and unpacking many of the same things, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Each time I pack, I weed out … Continue reading →

Posted in Moving, New Beginning, Personal Memoir, Personal Property | Tagged California, Downscaling, fire, Germany, Israel, Jewish, kibbutz Ketura, mementos, Mexico, moving, my life, objects as memories, personal memoir, Russia, Russian, tchochkes, Turkey | Leave a comment

Half empty or half full? (96)

Posted on April 15, 2012 by shoshwrites3

I’m talking about my garage, of course, not a glass of water. I’m usually a ‘half full’ kind of person, but in my current situation, ‘half empty’ would be the more optimistic view. No matter how many boxes I unpack, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Moving, My Life, Personal Memoir | Tagged books, contractor, Downscaling, fire, furniture, insurance, moving, my life, personal memoir | Leave a comment

The Game of Life (94)

Posted on March 18, 2012 by shoshwrites3

When I was a kid, there was an interesting commercial for the game called The Game of Life. It showed players having different jobs, waving money when hitting it rich in the stock market, and various other life events. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Buying a House, Moving, My Life, Personal Memoir, Selling a house | Tagged board games, buying a house, empty nest, games, house fire, life as a game, mortgage broker, moving, my life, personal memoir, real estate, realtors, son's depression | Leave a comment

Paper Attack (93)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by shoshwrites3

I am under attack from all directions. In the north is all the paperwork for selling my house, in the east is the paperwork for buying my new house, and from the southwest is the never-ending paperwork coming and going … Continue reading →

Posted in Buying a House, House, Insurance, My Life, Personal Memoir, Personal Property, Selling a house, Uncategorized | Tagged buying a house, contractor, foreclosure crisis, house, insurance, mortgage broker, mortgage company, moving, my life, paperwork, personal memoir, selling a house | Leave a comment

Moving again (92)

Posted on February 17, 2012 by shoshwrites3

Just as the inspections and appraisals and mortgage applications start to wrap up and life becomes a little less bogged down with the bureaucracy of real estate transactions, I begin to get sentimental about the house I’m leaving. I haven’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Moving, My Life, New Beginning, Personal Memoir | Tagged academia, Allegheny College, army brat, Austin, buying a house, California, college, daughter, DeKalb, divorce, dogs, empty nest, fire, Germany, house hunting, Illinois, Indiana, Lafayette, Loma Linda, Lubbock, Meadville, moving, my life, Northern Illinois University, Oswego, Pennsylvania, personal memoir, pets, Purdue, rescue dogs, Rockford, selling a house, Texas Tech University | Leave a comment