Iris Ruth Pastor

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I Have a Confession

August 30, 2024August 30, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

I have a confession. Sometimes I can say the most tactless things – not fully realizing the effect my words have. A couple of months ago I came across this quote: I LOVE MY FRIENDS. I JUST WISH I DIDN’T HAVE TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME WITH THEM. I lightheartedly repeated the quote to some of my buddies Continue reading

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Me and You

August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

I think we all have mixed feelings about the profound effect technology, apps, the Internet, Facebook, etc., have on our lives.  Sometimes, though, magic happens and it did on August 16, 2024 when I came across this beautiful poem written by a former classmate of mine. Thank you Judi Kipner-Wolf for allowing me to share your lovely Continue reading

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A Startling Revelation

August 16, 2024August 14, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

I found it on Facebook – a one-hour candlelight concert held at the iconic Centro Asturiano de Tampa – a club opened in 1902 for Spanish immigrants and their descendants to socialize. (Those old, elegant structures powerfully draw me in.) Advertised as “A one-of-a-kind experience in a candlelit setting,” a four-string quartet from the symphony would be Continue reading

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The Danger of Faulty Assumptions

August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

Faulty assumptions are mistaken or misleading suppositions. Now I DO have assumptions about grand-parenting that have proven to be very true: Regularly doling out unsolicited advice to your adult children on rearing their children is probably not a great idea. Ditto for hovering like a helicopter.   Another assumption: The only way to truly have fun and get super Continue reading

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It Was a Bad Week

August 2, 2024August 2, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

It was certainly a bad week. Not just for me, but for my poor mouth.Massive infectionFractured tooth needing to be extracted in pieces (OUCH!)A complicated root canal procedureAnd lots of ice packs I was away from my husband.I was bouncing between two of my adult kids’ houses. I was in a lot of unremitting physical pain.I Continue reading

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Change: Illusive or Real?

July 26, 2024July 25, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, butshorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more,but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but lesstime; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but lessjudgment; more experts, but Continue reading

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Acts of Charity Add Sparkle to the World

July 19, 2024July 16, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

Her name is Nicole, she is 40 years-old and I met her at a Dress for Success luncheon where my son Sam was getting an award. In between food courses and short speeches, we chatted.   Nicole was an “army brat” whose father was in the military. The family moved constantly until Nicole was a sophomore Continue reading

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Joy in the Morning

July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

It was the first thing I saw when I walked into my kitchen early that morning.  Alone on the kitchen counter, a notebook-sized piece of paper caught my eye. It was an informal, hastily drawn chart I had made for myself the evening before so I could remember to take my newly prescribed meds for Continue reading

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Please Weigh In Because I know This Has Happened To You…

July 5, 2024July 5, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

If you’re like every other female past the age of four on this planet, you’ve run into a friendship dilemma or two in your life. It happens to all of us because female friendship can be fraught with twists and turns that can be very tricky to navigate! Although we’ve all had to face friendship Continue reading

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My Husband’s Short-Lived Baseball Career

June 28, 2024June 28, 2024 Iris Ruth Pastor

I know there are certain things I’m not rational about and one of them is my husband playing baseball. It all started when we were dating. He was playing baseball after work. I was spending quality time with my two young sons after work.  I never got to see him play baseball.  After we got married, Continue reading

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Incidentally, Iris

For the past ten years, Iris’s “Incidentally Iris” column has appeared in The American Israelite, a weekly newspaper for Cincinnati’s Jewish community and the American Jewish community. Founded as The Israelite on July 15,1854, by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the paper today is the oldest English-Jewish weekly in America and the second oldest in the world. (The London Jewish Chronicle was founded in 1841.) Read Incidentally, Iris columns on The American Israelite