Juliet says to herself “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By Any Other Name would smell as sweet.” from her balcony in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. She is lamenting the fact that she and her newly-discovered love, Romeo are from rival families. Their names–Montague and Capulet–seem to be, on the surface, the problem.

Romeo eavesdrops from below and when he cannot contain himself any longer, blurts out that  he will discard his name so they can be together. But, it is their names that seal the fates of the “star-crossed” lovers. Continue reading →

I come from a family of educators. My mom was an English teacher. My step-dad was a teacher. I am a teacher and so is my husband. My dad did not have a very stable or lengthy career, despite his intelligence, talent, and education. But, he did teach for awhile. Correction–he was employed as a teacher for awhile, but he was always a teacher and his “lessons” covered many subjects and took many forms.

Every Friday for many, many years I would receive a hand-written letter from my dad.

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