dona's 365

One of the most memorable emails I’ve ever received was from Howard Rheingold , granting me access to his virtual community (a term he coined). Since that email, I've met him three or four times. Once I drove him from Fredrick to Arlington via (accidentally) the Pentagon parking lot & Arlington Cemetery.

Tall, attractive with perfectly styled hair, Elizabeth is the poster image for Bethesda moms. Trained as a lawyer but a stay-at-home-mom, she’s been room-parent, PTA president and Girl Scout Cookie mom. Her daughters are just as perfect. Our small talk, when we meet, seems punctuated with daggers. Why is that?

I see Sarah everywhere. We were never friends – our sons knew each other. We always talked when we saw each other. When she died last year I didn’t go to the funeral because I didn’t think I knew her well enough and because I didn’t need it. I was wrong.

“Does the Pope know? What does the Rabbi think?” She joked after we wrote our names on her mailing list. Because my last name sounds Catholic and my then live-in boyfriend looks somewhat Jewish, we understood. We laughed with her, not wanting to spoil the friendly levity. We were Methodist.

When I worked at the all-night pancake restaurant I had some regular customers. One group was the night shift from Beef Villa . The night before I left for England they braved a blizzard and brought me a present: a stuffed polar bear I named “Chucky”. I still have that bear.

I met Beverly after emailing her about redesigning her film club website. She was delighted to hear from me and asked me to join the board of directors. She loves foreign and independent films and is a psychoanalyst. Her mother is 102 years old and particular about her nail polish.