The Neighborhood

 

My personal essay The Neighborhood was recently published in BEING HOME, an anthology of essays about the “spirt of place.”

” . . .  As I walked to my car, I passed a store selling elegant Italian shoes in the same location where my aunt and uncle once had an Italian restaurant. They called it Maria’s. There was no one in the family with that name. They just liked the sound of it. I thought of my uncle, who instead of preparing squid in the kitchen one sunny afternoon, opened the fire hydrant in front of the restaurant, set up a chair and started cleaning them there in a large pot. He was the color of an old penny, never missing an opportunity to sit in the sun and work on his tan. Distracted talking to a friend, he let the pot overflow, sending the squid floating away down the gutter. My friends and I were playing nearby, and he called us over to run down the block and get them. We made a game of it and managed to catch every squid. I’m sure anyone who witnessed this didn’t order the calamari specials on the menu that night. . .”

 

From the editor – “. . . and by all means brag that your story won the 1st prize for the collection.”

 

The Neighborhood