A Muse 4 Mama

Editor’s Note: This post is part of my ongoing Mamma Mia journey. To see where it all began, check out Mamma Mia! The Party at the 02, London, All The World’s A Mamma Mia Stage, and No Sad Songs with Mamma Mia! When Words Fail, Pictures Sing If it’s true...

Picture this: You’re dressed in your Sunday best, clutching a college brochure, following a backward-walking guide across perfectly manicured lawns, nodding thoughtfully as phrases like “holistic admissions process” and “vibrant student community” wash over you. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever been on a college tour, you’ve essentially participated in the...

Standing Ovations are a shared experience of appreciation in sports and theater—that moment when something is so exceptional that you can’t help but jump to your feet with tears in your eyes and a glow in your heart. Consider this your seven-minute standing ovation! A girl is blessed when she...

How ABBA Became Our Family’s Transition Anthem There are no sad songs with Mamma Mia! There’s also no plot, but that’s exactly what we love about it! Even when trying to be sad, you can’t help but dance and feel good. And that’s fine by me. I hate the words...

Wilt’s 100-Point Game – Does anybody care? Have you ever cared so much about something—and wonder, does anybody care? That’s how I feel about Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game—a record so gigantic, so unbreakable, that it should be talked about endlessly. But bring it up today–it’s the anniversary–and you’ll get a...

We’ve felt the Philly love thing, now what? Don’t let the parade pass you by. I should know. I let the biggest parade of my life (with 1.7 million onlookers) pass me by. I shared that with you last week. My, err, not finest moment. The Comfort of Staying Hidden...

The Awakening – A Philly Sports Story “Love changes everything – how you live and how you die.” Aspects of Love, anyone? And going with the theme: Love changes your perspective — how you see your father embrace a city and how you choose to take a stand, too. On...

A Daughter’s Snow Globe Memory It was the wildest ride of our life, even though we weren’t going fast. There’s Dad at the helm. Do you choose to play or sit out? You have time to think about that. I’ll ask you again at the end. On June 2, 1983,...

What does activism have to do with Valentine’s Day? Here in Philadelphia, basketball legends often become community heroes. Wali Jones stands as a living example of active love in action. Born on Valentine’s Day, Jones transformed from a 1967 Sixers champion into something far more significant. He’s a living embodiment...

The Solo Act: Why I Thought I Didn’t Need Teamwork I didn’t care much for teamwork when I was single, and especially not when I was raising kids. How about you? I bet you’ve even thought, “The only way to get anything done around here is to do it myself.”...

Caught in the act of being in Hello Dolly back in 1983—yes, that’s me, Dave Boreanaz, Dolly, and Mr. Jackson, all on stage. Hindsight’s 20/20 with celebrity spotting back then, but it’s all the rage now for Holy Child alumni news! Why Celebrity Spotting Makes Us Question Everything About Ourselves I know...

When Your Reflection Says, “She Has No Style,” but You Pose Anyway A family friend once told me I had no style—to my face. Bold move, right? But hey, he tried to soften the blow first, like my mom saying, “Bless your heart,” right before licking her thumb to wipe...

Before I was born, I heard stories of how my dad, Billy Cunningham, helped the 76ers win the 1967 Championship as a player. I remember ever so fondly watching him coach the 76ers to victory in the 1983 Championship. I also recall sitting by the TV while he commented on...

Searching for Inspiration in a Cemetery Alex pulled into the cemetery, and I acted like the inspired tour guide at our latest stop. “Here it is!” Alex’s Polish relative in the backseat took it all in. This place whispered inspiring stories of strength and endurance; I was sure of it—if...

Currently, we can’t laugh about politics. The squirrels wouldn’t find this endorsement a laughing matter. Okay, maybe we’ll let this one slide. The dog is pretty darn cute. But suffering? That’s even more off-limits to joke about than politics. It’s not funny or cute. We don’t advertise our “complaints” on...

Say Billy Cunningham, and you might think of the moments that made him a Top 75 NBA Player. I think of all the memories. Here’s the muse between us: the top 75 NBA Memories. And so, we’ve landed on story no. 32. If you’ve ever wondered where my Dad got...

Now that the Olympics are over, what’s next? I don’t know what I’ll do with myself without Snoop Dogg randomly popping up at the Olympics. Whenever I saw him, I wondered what’s he doing there. And then I’d smile and remember Pop Jones scrolling through his phone after our interview...

Let’s interrupt the inspirational, awe-inspiring Olympic programming for what you least expect: a dream-crashing muse and a quick reality check that not every dream comes true. Don’t get me wrong—I wanted this to be an Olympic-worthy story. I was the kid picked last in gym class, so I’m in awe...

Where’s Tinker Bell when you need her? A friend recently said, “I’ve lost my muse.” Then it dawned on me: Where’s Tinkerbell when you need her? Usually, when I lose my muse, I’m overwhelmed by the world’s problems or my own, or I get triggered by something in my present...

Happy Wilt Chamberlain Day, Philly! I bet you didn’t know that on July 13, 2023, the mayor declared it as such at the premiere of the documentary on Wilt’s life, ‘Goliath’ (which is still streaming on Showtime a year later). Any day is a day to remember Wilt, but since...

Some rules we follow and some rules we break—who knew this longer than anyone? Our Founding Fathers and Pop Jones. He saw 106 Independence Days before he passed away this January at 107 years old. As a boy growing up in West Philadelphia, he had no rights once he left...

I rewrote this many times, trying to find my heart in all this loss. I wanted to see my uncle one last time before he passed. His cancer-riddled state didn’t matter; I would do anything to talk to him again. Only, I didn’t get that chance. In our anguish over...

What does the inner sanctum of the NBA, the men’s locker room, really hold? I’d often wonder, as a daughter relegated to the Wive’s Lounge. I’m unsure how old I was when I asked Mom, “Why aren’t we allowed to go into the Locker Room?” Mom said, “You don’t want...

I can’t get the Diary of Anne Frank out of my mind or soul. Watching rehearsals and feeling the build-up of the PCS Theater production has given me spiritual healing – saying it’s cathartic seems to trivialize what the Director, the cast, and the crew are all about. ‘The Diary...

Say the word auction, and I confess, it sets me back to my failed attempt to auction off a signed basketball for charity–no bids, no excitement, just me shyly raising my paddle to repurchase it. However, the auction to support the Wilt Chamberlain Scholarship Fund (live now through April 9)—featuring...

This muse is a bit unusual because why not? I was singing along to John Legend, and his lyrics skipped me by all those times I listened to his song “All of Me.” Get this, he sings: “You’re my muse!” Of course, it made me think he was singing about...

The place to begin to describe the remarkable life of Ernest Jones is where his life began–in the heart of West Philly. Pop Jones to those of us who loved him, and after four meetings, love wasn’t strong enough to explain how much he meant to me–I adored him. And...

I somehow skipped over the Happy New Year and the resolution to muse with you once a week, which I would have already broken, and now it’s February. Adulting is hard work! What can I say? I’ve been busy spinning my wheels, though. Convinced I needed AI to improve my...

Here’s our picture-perfect joy to the world this holiday season. Ever wonder what’s beyond the greetings? Same with those Hallmark Christmas chick movies. You only have to unwrap one to get to the heart of them all. With a predictable, sappy plot, the girl always gets the guy at the...

I started amuse4mama four years ago, at the halfway point of my life, when I turned 50, to take stock without considering how it would impact anyone else. You know when you ask, Do I want my remaining years to be half-empty or half-full? Half full, no doubt! That’s the...

It’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories–no gravy stress here! This isn’t about the past; we’re discussing what’s on our plates tomorrow. Let’s do the Hokey Pokey Thanksgiving has arrived! We’ll get there, don’t worry, but first, a word or two about gravy stress. One Friendsgiving, we gathered around the...

A sunset reminds us that life is beautiful even when we can’t see it. I’m working exceptionally hard on reframing how I view things. I’m battling an all-out war to get these negative thoughts to be positive. I hide it as cleverly as possible with these muses, ensuring that “all’s...

When Stephanie Ortiz, aka Mama, wrote a controversial article that gets wiped clean of the internet for 14+ hours of “housekeeping,” suspicious? Getting censored, if only it means your Philly Flair article on Tigre Hill’s “72 Seconds in Rittenhouse Square” can’t be read by anyone, does something to you. Don’t...

Twenty-three years ago. I went to Bolivia filled with youth, health, and an adventurous silver streak in my otherwise brown hair, but I couldn’t appreciate the riches of the Wild West of Bolivia the way my father-in-law (Papito) did. He drew from those riches when we first met at their...

A Three-Year Reprieve From Cancer & I’m Still Standing It’s my third cancer anniversary, or if we’re going with the BC/AD time stamp (before cancer/after diagnosis), mark your calendars. It’s 3 AD. As they say, hindsight’s 20/20, and in my case, hindsight’s 2020. (That’s the year I got diagnosed). And...

It’s a tall order, but if anyone can tackle this burning question, it must be me. Warning: this muse contains a fire alarm! I went to the premiere of GOLIATH: Life On An Epic Scale (the docuseries on the life of Wilt Chamberlain) and saw part two when they interviewed...

I always thought it was God’s sick joke to be the daughter of my Dad, who played and then coached Sixers Championships, when I couldn’t make a basket unless my eyes were closed. When I was young, I asked my Dad to teach me how to play basketball. He must...

I’ll tell you the point; this motherboard’s fried! (Don’t mind me; I’m just arguing with GrammarlyGO!) I’m so over GrammarlyGO. I write something that makes my stomach flutter (in a good way), which means it’s time to release it into the world, post that sucker, baby! And then I check...

I finally figured out what’s fantastic about being older! We’re multi-faceted–we show all the colors of the rainbow. Unlike when we’re young, and we’re myopic. Think about how boring we were. We’d talk about school, our favorite foods and activities, and that’s about it. We have one favorite color or...

All the albums in italics are part of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I admit it. Even though I’m way past the age of being a Swiftie, I love Taylor Swift. I saw Red before we even took pictures on our phones at concerts, and 1989 when the girls were too young to go to...

Today I’m writing. Grammarly has scolded me long enough. I’ve written zero words over the past few weeks and paid heavily for it. I mean literally. I’ve spent over $400 to keep my blog running for the next three years–I’m paying lots of money not to write. I started a...

. Forty years ago, I couldn’t appreciate the enormity of winning the 76ers World Championship. There were the sports fans (honking and screaming), my Dad (wearing sunglasses, ahem), the players (soaring and signing autographs with the coach along with them), and me (graduating 8th Grade). But I saw things differently...

The Sixers will honor the 40th Anniversary of the 1983 World Champions at the Sixers game tonight. Boy, does this take me back to the basement, in those bins leftover from the fire with all that stuff Mom had saved? And there among all those sports articles others had written...

I’m feeling so scattered that I don’t know what to say. How’s that for a start? Yet, amid the broken pieces of my life, I want to do something with my cancer story to help others find joy. It’s the missing ingredient in all of our lives right now. It’s...

All my fun crowd pictures are blurry so thank goodness for Photo by PxHere I want someone to hear me; I bet you do, too. But we’re up against a society that’s so loud and boisterous, and everyone’s clamoring for attention. Look at me, Mom, please? None of us look like...

See photo below for translation. Last night I decluttered while I “watched” the Super Bowl. I wanted the Eagles to win so bad I had to multitask. (They have the best slogan, “It’s A Philly Thing,” and the best fight song, “Fly Eagles Fly,” and the brotherly love’s been infectious.)...

Driving with my daughters from Pennsylvania to Nashville after Christmas break got me thinking. You know how road trips are. We passed through lots of slow downs, and many playlists, five states and drove through sunny skies, heavy rain, and fog, and somehow the car made it to the music...

Judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character." -Martin Luther King, Jr. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., today has become a day of service. We think of all that MLK was able to do for the betterment of our...

Attending a networking event in the Hall of Fame suite at last week’s 76ers pre-game to honor our Wilt Chamberlain fund scholars got me thinking. There’s that song called Hall of Fame that’s also got me singing about it, too. According to Script/will.i.am, champions aren’t the only ones that can...

A rhyme can’t hurt anyone, hey! And it’s a reminder, especially for me, to hold our heads up and go into 2023 with high hopes, adventurous spirits, and joy. And, am I one to talk? I ended 2022 posting so rarely that I got into a once-a-month habit of squeaking...

I was telling a friend, then a table of listeners, and then anyone who would listen; I hate the response to difficult news, “I’m so sorry.” Can’t anyone come up with anything better to say when life gives us a rotten tomato? Sometimes life happens. No one needs to be...

Spending time with my daughter with a backdrop like this–it’s a miracle, for sure! Ever wonder why some people have a life-and-death experience and live to tell the story while others keep having the same old life? Sorry, there is nothing extraordinary for you today. I ask because it’s crossed...

It’s the last day of breast cancer awareness month, and if my OBGYN, who found my lump two years ago, hadn’t said this month made him think of me, would I have even cared? Honestly? No. So many bad things are happening worldwide, from wars to mass panic–no one can...

My day started with the expectation to meet a friend at my favorite French cafe and buy Alexandra macaroons. But K called me and changed everything: “Keith’s in the hospital. He’s only got a day or two, maybe a week. I’m going to see him.” I canceled my plans and...

My daughter’s gone to college to start her grand adventure (gulp) without me. I took comfort that Brooke Shields cried, dropping off her daughter at college, and her daughter’s a sophomore, not even a freshman. But who am I kidding? I can’t look that beautiful when I cry. But Alex...

SORRY I’VE BEEN MIA! Yep! I got the dreaded Covid. For two years, I worried about the day it would hit me. What would happen? Would I be okay? I listened to so many stories of all the other people who got it, and I even lived through Skylar getting...

Yesterday people posted upside-down flags, the DJ on the radio talked about what color you could wear to show your dissent, and people got shot at a 4th of July parade. Disturbing! And not because there were shootings on the 4th of July; Americans shoot Americans daily. So that part’s...

Colonoscopies aren’t fun, but they’re fun to make fun of. And since I prepped for my first one on Father’s Day, I can officially make all the jokes I want. Yes, sh!t happens. But we’re going to have to go further than that, to a time when my Dad parked...

Last week was Memorial Day–when we honor those who lost their lives in battle, but I can’t shake the image of a veteran on the side of the busy road with the box in front of him, looking just as lost and swallowed up by life. I was late and...

Whenever I get stressed, tired, or sad, my brain becomes sluggish, and I’m hyper-aware of every step it’s taking and how it’s operating in slow-mo–like when you try to do something with your non-dominant hand. It must be hard for people to follow me when I speak. A memory pops...

Since Sunday night, I’d been in Nashville with Skylar for an internship she has here, and I took three photos, maybe? Gone are the two trips we traveled here as a family and took tons of photos to document our memories. Now we’re separated. Dividing and conquering because everybody has...

Two weeks ago, everyone couldn’t stop talking about Joel Embiid’s three-pointer for the 76ers–what can you do in .8 seconds? The future seemed limitless. Sunday’s talk was about his injury–could this be the end? I have something to say about the whole thing. Only my head is spinning with two...

They were trending last week, but it took so long to get this blog out I’m already behind the curve. If that isn’t an indicator for you–I’m not a trend follower. Take my first summer job at Bob’s Big Boy–the name speaks for itself. And I never could bring the...

Well, not exactly. It kept getting algae and turning green for years, though it made for a great Kermit the frog “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” moment. So we did what had to be done. We drained it of all that might be clouding it up. I’ve been just as foggy....

It happens to the best of us; I’m sure it’s happened to you. We run out of gas (figuratively or literally, take your pick). After two weekends of shows, I’m so out of gas I missed my muse deadline yesterday. But I’m talking about the real thing today, well, almost....

No picture this muse. You ask, why? It’s been that kind of week! I finally figured out something huge about myself–I’m a runner. And no, not a physical runner. In that regard, I hate running. But I run from the complex parts of life, especially when all goes to pot...

The world’s saturated with creators–do we need one more? And if we’re not famous, forget about it, unless you have one million followers on TikTok. Then, by all means, open up your fashion line or singing career, or write that book. We all want to be seen and heard. Somehow,...

It’s a year after my bilateral mastectomy, and I’m in my plastic surgeon’s office Friday, and she’s asking to see my boobs. It’s something I initially felt so squeamish about, and then I could do without even being asked. Yet, it’s a year later. How do I think about it...

#36 (3-6) of the Top 75 NBA Series-These stories will appear randomly based on the significance of the number we’re dialing in. Psst! Happy Birthday Mom! One day Alex’s Mom pointed out the number game my parents play with one another: My Mom’s birthday is 3-6, and my Dad’s is...

You know when you can’t take one more thing. So you hit rewind and retell all the trials that have led up to this point. It’s like Hansel and Gretel, only instead of leaving breadcrumbs, you’ve made a trail of empty wrappers. We all do this trick of human nature...

Only if! But it got me thinking, what if we could direct dial the past and listen in on a story. Today’s the day to give it a try. Dad got honored at the Cleveland All-Star Game as one of the top 75 NBA players. And we’ve got at least...

Or at least these are the questions I frequently ask myself. So why not put in an adorable picture, and call it a Valentine’s Day special? Question: Do you honestly get your kicks out of writing these muses? Answer:  Okay, truth. I love laughing, and my deep hope is that you’re laughing...

Hugh Jackman is back on Broadway, and we got to sit five rows from him (explode into cheers here). And speaking of backs, I’m the luckiest girl in the world because I’m married to Hugh Backman, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Back to The Music Man. We...

The title for this muse hit me last year when I celebrated my last day of getting my hardcore chemo on the rocks. Among all the decorations, the 7th Graders in my daughter’s class had made me a poster that they all signed. It said, “Gra tit ude.” If only...

Every cancer patient has to go back to work–it’s inevitable. It’s also hard work, especially when there’s no paying job to return to. My kids no longer need me to be their crowd-pleaser. You know the drill. The parents see their kid and wave, and then the little kid excitedly...

You have until midnight Saturday, January 22, 2022 to win a $110 gift certificate just for commenting on my muse. To be eligible to enter the drawing, comment on what’s your favorite muse and why. Post comments on this week’s video or last week’s index of muses. Your User Guide!...

If your hankering for muses about… A Muse 4 Mama the buried truth & growing pains of two years of muses Goodbye Mommyhood, the second muse I ever wrote, is still one of my favorites. This concept of losing motherhood is the reason I started this journey. One reader even...

We celebrate all the New Year’s resolutions, hope, and dreams–all that can happen in 2022. It’s pure bliss. And then, we go to sleep, and we wake up. And, it dawns on us that if we want those dreams to come true, we have to take action. Nothing’s happening on...

Last Christmas, Skylar pulled a letter she had written herself the year before out of her stocking. We all wished we had thought of the same idea. So we got out our pens and paper and wrote a letter to ourselves to be found in this year’s stocking. This year...

I just found out in the nick of time that BTS stands for behind the scenes. Clever for my title, right? Okay, I have to divulge my source here. My youngest clued me into this BTS thing. But enough about abbreviations, every time you receive a holiday card with a...