Category Archives: family stories

Maine 2016: Almost Farewell

Posted on September 17, 2016 by

This morning I am sad. I just kissed Naomi—Branching’s editor—farewell. She was here visiting for a week at our small “camp” on Echo Lake. We did all the traditional summer things: a hike up Penobscot, popovers and Jordan Pond, dinner … Continue reading →

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Refugee, But Not Forever

Posted on August 22, 2016 by

The other evening, after a satisfying dinner, I was lazily surfing the net when I came across a photo of a beach filled with Syrian refugees running across the sand, trying to climb aboard a rickety ship. Suddenly my heart … Continue reading →

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Farewell to Frank Hatch

Posted on January 21, 2016 by

On Sunday, January 10th, my computer screen flashed. Caring Bridges, a site that provides health news to family and friends, let me know that Frank had died. I had spoken to Frank a few weeks earlier on his birthday. He had … Continue reading →

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Golden Gate Park and My Son’s Birthday

Posted on February 19, 2015 by

This week a San Francisco friend sent me a picture of a visit he paid to the bench my husband and I donated to Golden Gate Park in memory of our child. The inscription reads: David Albert Loebl 2-19-56 to … Continue reading →

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Christmas 2014: Other People’s Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2014 by

My mother was a Christmas junkie. I can still smell the pine aroma of the eight-foot tree that stood in our parlor in Hanover, Germany. Beeswax candles suffused the room with flickering light and a profusion of home-baked cookies weighed … Continue reading →

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Dr. Sigmund Freud, Uncle Alex and the Centenary of World War I

Posted on September 18, 2014 by

A hundred years ago, when World War I was in its infancy, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria called up my great-uncle-in-law Alexander Loebl, Esq. and asked him to serve in his army. Uncle Alex had just graduated from law school, and though … Continue reading →

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World War I: August 3, 1914: Germany Invades Belgium

Posted on August 1, 2014 by

World War II defined my life, but it was actually a continuation of  World War I, whose 100th birthday we “celebrate” this year. The hostilities took a while to get underway. They began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand … Continue reading →

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