Articles written by Marilyn Shapiro
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We are thankful to have children living in beautiful places
When my daughter Julie headed out to Colorado in 2003, it was originally planned as a nine-month adventure teaching environmental science. Soon, however, Julie fell in love with the mountains, Colorado, and Sam, not necessarily in that order. They...
A High Holy Day love story
The High Holidays are a special time, but it is even more special when family—and a little romance—are part of the season. In 1951, Larry’s father, Ernie, a World War II veteran, was called back into the U.S. Army. Larry’s mother, Doris,...
Remembering my dad-boats, bugs, bats, and all
Ten years ago this week, my father and I spent our last Father's Day together. My mother and he had moved up to an independent living facility in Upstate New York four miles from me. Two years later,...
On Bonds and birthdays
My husband, Larry, was born the week that the State of Israel was born. For the rest of his life, his birthday celebration would be entwined with the founding of a new country. In 1961, Larry’s entire bar/bat mitzvah class and their families partic...
Being Jewish in Alaska
When Dr. Liz Ross joins her fellow women congregants at Congregation Shalom Aleichem on the bima for the blessing over the candles, she pulls the hood of her kuspuk, her traditional Native Alaskan snow dress, over her head. And on her neck, her gold...
Revisiting the Catskills from the staffs' perspective
In the classic movie "Dirty Dancing," Jack Weston's character Max Kellerman, the owner of the fictional Catskill resort, laments the changes down the road. "[I]t all seems to be ending. You think...
Butterflies surround me
Butterflies. Beautiful butterflies. Blue. Yellow. Even black and white. I am so enthralled by them. But butterflies have a greater meaning to me than just their beauty. In 1993, I read a book called...
Of miracles and gratitude: 'Make new friends but keep the old...'
Two years ago, Peter and Margaret Hunter, friends from England, visited us in our home in Kissimmee, Florida. They brought two bottles of Moet Chandon Brut Champagne, which we tucked away for a...
Cult classic 'Dr. Phibes' may live forever
Horror fans who were in or near Santa Monica, California, on Oct. 26, had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Halloween Double Feature at the Aero Theater. "The Abominable Dr. Phibes," a cult...
Football, food, synagogues and a museum in a whirlwind trip
By Marilyn Shapiro Simchas and celebrations are wonderful, but New Orleans celebrates every day of the year. A city brimming with restaurants, clubs, and street musicians, it was clear to see why The...
Overcoming 'otherness' makes the High Holy days even sweeter
Since the year that we met, my husband, Larry, and I attend Rosh Hashanah services. We hear the shofar, listen to melodies that we only hear on the High Holy Days, and greet our friends with L'Shana...
In pursuit of state plates
"Delaware!" my husband Larry yelled as we drove past a line of parked cars on Galena Street in Frisco, Colorado. "We got Delaware!" In our life, "Getting Delaware" is a big deal. Within the first 10...
This past Memorial Day, a Stalag 17-B POW was remembered
Melvin Weissman didn't have to fight in World War II. As a machinist for an essential industry, he needed permission from his company to even enlist. He was first rejected by the army as he had...
The 'Titanic Fanatic' tells his tales of the unsinkable ship
On March 28, 1956, nine-year-old Steven Mattis sat mesmerized in his living room in Philadelphia as Kraft Theater's adaptation of "A Night to Remember" unfolded. Based on the nonfiction book of the...
'Holocaust By Bullets' monuments erected throughout Belarus
How does one keep the memory alive of the 800,000 Belarusian Jews killed during the Holocaust? For two Jewish families with links to Florida, along with a couple from England, the answer was simple: O...
Rep. Soto-a modern-day Mordechai for Florida and Israel
In early winter 2017, Sheri Morton, a thirty-year resident of Osceola County and a political activist, was very concerned about the upswing in anti-Semitic incidents that were occurring throughout...
Dayanu! That would suffice
Browsing recently at a Denver airport store on my way home to Orlando, I was greeted by the clerk. Exchanging pleasantries, I asked him how his day was going. “Counting the hours, ma’am. Just counting the hours.” “It can’t be that bad,...
Who made the hamantashen
One of the nicest things about our community in Florida is our diversity. Often, while I am working out in my exercise class or enjoying a concert or eating in our small bistro, I am struck by the num...
A present-day Shabbos goy in Kissimmee
As I settled into my chair at the Shalom Club table at Solivita Club Expo, I put my pocketbook on the empty chair from the Bellisimo Hair Salon which was next us. A few minutes later, a young Hispanic man asked me to move it so he could sit down....
Making the world a 'bit better' place
On Jan. 31, Jews will celebrate Tu B'Shevat, the day in which it is believed "trees come of age." For those of us who live in Central Florida, there is no more fitting a place to honor the Jewish...
Fried rice, friendship and fortune cookies on Dec. 25
On Dec. 23, Larry and I traveled 400 miles to spend time with our friends, Chris and Bernie Grossman, in their new home in Tallahassee. And on Dec. 25, the Shapiros and Grossmans upheld a tradition...
Connecting through the gift of generousity
Larry and I have many "pets" in our home. A butterfly rests outside our front door, and two larger ones fly on our lanai wall. A two-foot bear clutching his "Bear Feet Only" sign greets visitors on...
A soldier, a Jewish boy, and a photographer
A body of an American solider lying peacefully in the snow in a battlefield in Belgium. A Jewish boy in Brooklyn orphaned twice by World War II. And the world-renown photographer who connected the...
The Torah crown
"That doesn't belong here." Peter Gutensohn stared at the large tarnished sterling silver piece almost hidden in a dusty corner of Lanier's Historic Downtown Marketplace. Peter had come in to the...
Harry Lowenstein-mensch of a man
This year, for the first time in 60 years, Harry Lowenstein will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah without his beloved wife Carol. It will be a bittersweet occasion, only a few short weeks after what...
