September 02, 2015

Road Scholars

September 02, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

It has been 11 days since my husband and I left our home in the San Francisco Bay Area and embarked on our longtime dream of a road trip across the expanse of the US – from sea to shining sea, as the anthem goes.

August 05, 2015

Twilight Time

August 05, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

We faced the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson, watching it turn to red, pink, orange, purple and blue as the sun’s dwindling rays were reflected and refracted by the glass windows of the skyscrapers.

June 09, 2015

Getting to 60

June 09, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

“It” is old age that’s no longer just creeping, but is actually galloping up on us, the boomer generation, famous for, among other things, the skillful (and often expensive) denial of the inevitability of aging.

May 19, 2015

Mama Wasn’t My Mother

May 19, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

She became the executive chef – and I don’t say this facetiously – of our home, cooking delicious meals that many of our friends still remember and, upon my mother’s instructions, baked perfect chiffon cakes and butter cookies, the likes of which we have not tasted again.

May 05, 2015

May, Come She Will

May 05, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

For former residents going home to visit, the annual fiesta is almost like a spiritual retreat, a time for grounding. No matter how far they have gone from their former lives, there is always the thrill of looking up those who stayed behind and returning to the rituals that used to bind them to each other.

April 22, 2015

Expat Realities: Is it the Journey or Is it the Destination?

April 22, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

Is it the actual return to our country of origin that appeals to us, or is it our natural restlessness, our need for new beginnings (or the imperative of endings) that pulls us away from our currently settled lives?

April 01, 2015

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

April 01, 2015/ Gemma Nemenzo

Did our divorce make us evil people? Definitely not; in fact I’d like to think we’re better persons now because we’re happier.

Gemma Nemenzo

Gemma Nemenzo On Life, Love, Writing, And Everything In Between