For a long time I was convinced that the conflict between Jewish people and black people in this country was a media event.

Our ancestors are an ever widening circle of hope.

It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.

I guess I'm depressed. I don't know. I can't explain it. Part of it is the irritability of being 84, and part of it is being not as physically strong as I once was. And part of it is my misunderstanding, I think, of what's going on in the world.

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

It had been the longest time since she had had a rib-scraping laugh. She had forgotten how deep and down it could be. So different from the miscellaneous giggles and smiles she had learned to be content with these past few years.

I don't think I knew any of my father's friends - male friends - by their real names. I remember them only by their nicknames.