by Betsy Dane | Sep 7, 2026 | Current Affairs
Twenty-five years ago this Friday, the United States suffered the greatest terrorist attack on US soil ever. 2,977 people died, and countless numbers have died after that day from illnesses caused by the fallout. 2,977 people – all on their way to do something normal...
by Betsy Dane | Jun 17, 2026 | Current Affairs, Rambling
Fifty years ago, I lived in New York City and watched with amazement, joy and awe “Operation Sail” as the magnificent tall ships sailed up the Hudson River in New York Harbor. The fireboats streamed red-, white- and blue-tinged water from their hoses, there was...
by Betsy Dane | Apr 7, 2025 | Current Affairs, This and That
We are living in troubled and divisive times. And we are all, for the most part, afraid that things will get much worse before they get better. Anyone who knows me knows that I knew him way before he was #47 and #45. The first time I met him, he came to visit the...
by Betsy Dane | Dec 5, 2024 | Current Affairs, Rambling, This and That
It has been 3 1/2 years since my last post, but after multiple moves and other events, hopefully I am settled down enough to once again bring “pen to paper”. It is mind-boggling that this will be our 7th Christmas without my Tom, but of course my family...
by Betsy Dane | Jul 28, 2021 | Grief, Moving On in Life, Rambling, This and That
In the movie “The Bucket List,” Jack Nicholson’s character, Edward Cole, uses the phrase “like smoke through a keyhole” to describe how quickly a life passes. This is not meant to be a morbid concept, but rather a reminder that we should...
by Betsy Dane | Mar 17, 2021 | Grief, Moving On in Life, This and That
It has been a long time coming, but I have finally put pen to “paper” once again as I have reflected on the past months. And, as I face the third anniversary of losing my Tom (how is that even possible?), I am forced once again to consider how grief will...
by Betsy Dane | Oct 28, 2020 | Current Affairs, This and That
Two years ago yesterday, an armed gunman, a 46-year old homegrown terrorist from the Pittsburgh suburbs, burst into the morning Sabbath services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Armed with a Colt AR-15 and three...
by Betsy Dane | Sep 11, 2020 | Change, Current Affairs, This and That
I can’t believe that today marks nineteen years that my Tom and I were standing in the driveway of our new house in Sarasota – we had moved there from New York only eight or so days prior. We had no TV, our little girls had just started elementary school. We...
by Betsy Dane | Aug 5, 2020 | Grief, Moving On in Life, Rambling, This and That
OK, so maybe legally that is what I am…and it is the box I have to check on forms at the doctor’s office or on a credit application for “marital status”. But I really HATE the word. Interestingly enough, I decided to see why I maintained such...
by Betsy Dane | Jul 9, 2020 | Current Affairs, Rambling, This and That
In John Carpenter’s 1984 sci-fi film Starman, the alien, played by Jeff Bridges says to the scientist, Mark Shermin (played by Charles Martin Smith): “You are a strange species. … You are at your very best when...