Mother-daughter relationships can be very complicated, I have a good relationship with both my daughters, and I have achieved this by being the absolute opposite of my mother. Before I react to a situation I stop and think to myself, “what would my mother have done?” and then I do the exact opposite.

My earliest childhood memories are not of my mother, but of my aunt, who lived downstairs from us. She had two boys and adored me because I was a little girl, and I spent a lot of time with her. I remember playing peek-a-boo with her, and her giving me candy while she was brushing my hair, and telling me how much she loved me.

I was the oldest of three children, my sister is 4 years younger than I am and my brother 2 years younger than her. My early childhood was fine until my aunt moved away when I was 8 years old. Suddenly I felt very alone, my Dad was at work all day and my mom spent all her time with the younger kids, and I began to get the feeling that she didn’t like having me around.

When ever I think back all I really remember is my mother yelling at me. I wasn’t a bad kid, I liked to sit quietly and play by myself, but I got yelled at if I didn’t play with my sister. When she got older she started playing with friends and often had them over, but I was not allowed to have friends over. My sister and I shared a bedroom and she did not want me in there when she had friends over. I liked to find an empty room and sit and read, which was difficult in our tiny apartment, many times I would lock myself in the bathroom so I could sit and read in peace.

My mother used to yell at me all the time, she’d say, “What the hell is wrong with you? What are you a freak? You may be book smart but you have no common sense. Why don’t you go out and play like your sister? Why can’t you be more like, Darlene (the girl upstairs)?"

Just a side note - Years later Darlene’s drug addicted husband committed suicide on Christmas Eve and she became a topless waitress.

The thing is my mother never yelled at my sister, whenever we argued she took my sister’s side, my sister got better more expensive gifts and clothes. My sister got her way all the time and she always got whatever she wanted. The older she got, the more spoiled she became and the more difficult life became for me.

I began trying to stay away from home as much as possible. I had a friend who had a nice, normal family and I spent many evenings over at her house, watching television with her family and playing with her little sister, who was a sweet kid. When I got older I started going out with a guy who had a nice, normal family, when we broke up I missed his family more than I missed him.

* Don't ever let anyone tell you that you are too old for Halloween

In 1847, The State Rural Cemeteries Act was passed in New York, which put an end to the establishment of any new cemeteries in Manhattan so cemetery owners began building in Queens. The area of Queens I grew up in quickly became almost encircled by cemeteries, and was called the “Cemetery Belt”. Today more than 5 million of the departed almost triple the live population of Queens -- are buried in 29 Queens cemeteries -- four Catholic, three Protestant, 14 Jewish and eight nondenominational.




Some of these cemeteries are the resting places of many famous people, including Jackie Robinson, Mae West, and Harry Houdini, at whose tomb devotees gather each year on Halloween to see if he can pull off the ultimate escape trick and return from the grave. On the 50th anniversary of Harry Houdini’s death I went with friends to Machpelah Cemetery to see if he would return from the grave as he had promised, which he did not.

My grandparents and various relatives are buried in the St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, which opened in 1890 and was just 4 blocks from my house, along with many famed mobsters, including John Gotti and Lucky Luciano.



A few blocks away in the other direction was an old Lutheran Cemetery, established in 1852. We used to go in there and walk around and read the tombstones, it was quiet and peaceful and there was grass and trees so we loved being in there. And it had some interesting crypts and memorials. The only thing that we were afraid of in there was the “Greenies”, that’s what we called the workers because they drove green pickup trucks. They had dogs that they would let loose to chase us out.

The most mysterious cemetery was a small burial ground in the middle of a park. It was overgrown with weeds and fenced in, the stories were that it was an old Indian burial ground and it you went in you would be cursed. I don’t know of anyone that climbed the fence and went in.



When I got married and moved to the other side of the neighborhood, I lived down the block from the Crematory which has been in business since 1893. On certain days of the week you could see the black smoke coming out of the large smokestack.

So I’ve never been afraid of cemeteries or ghosts.

The courts in NJ have ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual ones. How does our future generation feel about this issue?


Well, I understand that people can’t control who they love or have deep feelings for but you have to think about religion b/c it’s not right for two men or two women to be together according to the Bible. I don’t really care about it b/c im not gay nor do I know someone that’s gay and want to get married. If I did know someone, it would be kinda weird to go 2 their wedding b/c I wonder who would be the "girl" and wear a dress.

Gay Marriage is something I don’t care about. If you’re gay then you’re gay, if you’re not your not.

I really don’t care so it doesn’t matter.

I think it's morally wrong but I really don't care. Ummmm. . . I kind of think that gay marriage is nasty! But what gay couples do is none of my business and as long as they're gay relationships and hobbies don't affect me then I'm fine with it. I just think that people take it a little too far sometimes. The whole world doesn't have to know you’re gay so keep you're sexuality to yourself. Gay couples getting married is fine with me, I guess they can do whatever makes them happy. Straight people get married so why can't gay people get married?

How I feel about gay marriage is I don't support it. It says in the bible that a man shouldn’t marry a man and a woman shouldn't marry a woman. But on the side note to that this is America land of the free. So I feel if they want to get married it shouldn't be a big deal.

I highly support gay marriage because I feel it isn't our job to judge other people decisions. It is what they want to do and what they feel. So why should we judge them? I feel that is hypocrisy and we shouldn't do it.

I oppose gay marriage I think it’s a disgusting abomination and that people should not promote or tolerate the unnatural. I know that all sin is equal but yet we as a society punish some sins more than others. Like when a child lies he is whipped with a rod or belt. But when he or she is a coward the punishment is less severe. I don't think it should be promoted through television or any other media productions that can corrupt a pure mind. And I don't think that the recent rate of coming out of the closet is correct because most seem to be just following the fade or are just desperate and don't want to find their soul mate. That’s sad I'd rather be alone or a nun. But that's just me because when you accept the unnatural corruption has succeeded in poisoning you.

I really don’t care about gay marriages as long as I'm not hurt & they are happy.

One of my main beliefs is my believe in God and the bible and in the bible it says that all sins are equal! The reason I say this is because murder(including abortion), sex before marriage and being gay are all sins, but so is judging! So by voting/saying whether gay marriage, abortion, or anything like that is wrong, you're just as wrong because judging is a sin! Some people have told me by saying that its like I'm not saying gay marriage, abortion, or w/e is okay or that I'm being wishy washy to avoid confrontation or political/religous dispute but what I'm saying is that its not my place to say whats right and wrong neither is it any other human being's place. (What a wise person)

If we say it's okay for two men or two women to marry, why not three men, three women, two men and one woman, or an adult and a child, and I don't mean a 22 year old and a 17 year old. How long before someone proposed legalizing incest? (This is from an adult)

These kids (and the adult) are confused about this issue. They are conflicted about what they feel and what they think the bible tells them. The words "disgusting abomination" are not the words of a child, they are the words of someone who has beaten this child with a rod or belt. I don't understand how people can teach their children hate. What are your feelings?