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...
Read MoreMeet Stephanie
I’m Stephanie Ortiz, a storyteller–like a professional organizer; only I use words instead of boxes. I’ve written fiction and nonfiction since being a journalism major at UNC-Chapel Hill–before there were iPhones, to know a story when it hits me. And whenever I need a muse, there’s always real life to draw from.
Meet Stephanie
I’m Stephanie Ortiz, a storyteller–like a professional organizer; only I use words instead of boxes. I’ve written fiction and nonfiction since being a journalism major at UNC-Chapel Hill–before there were iPhones, to know a story when it hits me. And whenever I need a muse, there’s always real life to draw from.
From the blog
Billy Cunningham’s Iconic #32
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...
Read MoreWhat Are Sports (and Snoop Dogg) Doing Here?
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...
Read MoreAn Anti-Olympic-Worthy Story
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...
Read MoreFinding Tinker Bell & Peter Pan
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...
Read More13 Big-Man Secrets To Jumpstart Wilt Chamberlain Day!
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...
Read MoreThe Timeless Wisdom of Pop Jones: Breaking Rules and Making History
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...
Read MoreUncle Rob’s Legacy: The Untold Chapter of Connection and Loss
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...
Read MoreLocker Room Moments In The Car Ride Home With Dad
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...
Read MoreThe Diary Behind The Diary of Anne Frank
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...
Read MoreThe Legacy Auction: Footprints From Wilt’s 100-Point Game
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...
Read MoreAbout Me – The Muse Within
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...
Read MoreAn Ode To Ernest ‘Pop’ Jones and His 107-Year Legacy – Passing The Torch to West Philly & Beyond Borders
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...
Read MoreAdulting with Awe and Rediscovering Serendipitous Joy
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...
Read MoreBeyond The Greetings: Unwrapping The Heart of Hallmark Christmas Chick Flicks
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...
Read MoreHappy 4 Year Muse – iversary!
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...
Read MoreWhat Thanksgiving Needs: An Attitude Adjustment, Thank You!
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...
Read MoreReframing Tragedy–One Hug At A Time
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...
Read MorePsst! Don’t Tell Them Mama Told You
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...
Read MoreThe Mother Lode Of The Wild West, Bolivia
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...
Read MoreHindsight’s 2020!
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...
Read MoreWhy Wilt Chamberlain Stood Taller Than GOLIATH?
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...
Read MoreAt 106, Pop Jones Captures The Heart of The City of Brotherly Love
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...
Read MoreHence The Name A Muse 4 Mama But What’s The Point?
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...
Read MoreDad’s The Muse & Howard Eskin’s The Swiftie!
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...
Read MoreA Mama’s Love For Taylor Swift
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...
Read MoreAll Or Nothing? At least it’s something.
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...
Read MoreWhy The 1983 Sixers Legends Stand Tall Forty Years Later
. 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...
Read MoreBy Billy Cunningham: The 76ers Two Titles (40 and 56 years ago)
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...
Read MoreFor The Times We Can’t Add Joy To Enjoy
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...
Read MoreWill The Real Role Models Please Stand?
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...
Read MoreIt’s A Philly Thing And A Code Translator When All Else Fails
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.)...
Read MoreWhat I Wish I Taught My Daughters
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...
Read MoreBlinded By The Humility of NHL Great Willie O’Ree
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...
Read MoreWho Are Your Hall of Fame Picks?
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...
Read MoreMay Our 2023 Be Filled With Frivolity!
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...
Read MoreTis the Season To Be Jolly, Not So Sorry
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...
Read MoreWalking On Miracles
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...
Read MoreWhat’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month About, Really? Now “Gimme Some Candy”
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...
Read MoreOn The Loss of A Good Friend & Finding The Unexpected
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...
Read MoreOn Being A Doorstopper No More, Unless My Daughter Calls On Me!
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...
Read MoreLoss of Sense of Humor–Unmasking Another Covid Symptom
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...
Read MoreI Believe In One Nation Under God, Do You?
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...
Read MoreSh!t Happens But Then There’s Sonny Vaccaro, Matt Damon & Ben Affleck
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...
Read MoreDon’t Let Memorial Day Pass You By
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...
Read MoreConnecting the Dots with “Heart and Soul”
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...
Read MoreThe Mother’s Day Special That Never Happened
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...
Read MoreWhy The Possible End of Embiid’s Season With The 76ers Makes Me Sad
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...
Read MoreJay Wright and the 76ers Are Trending, Calling Up #41 of The Top 75 NBA Stories, please
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...
Read MoreDrained & Renewed!
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....
Read MoreRunning Out Of Gas–Story #25 of the Top 75 NBA Stories Series
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....
Read MoreOutcasts For Hell Week
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...
Read MoreLetting It All Hang Out For Some Creativity
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,...
Read MoreA Quick Getaway–The Perks of A New Job
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...
Read MoreMrs. C–The Real Deal Behind Billy C!
#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...
Read MoreSorry For You’s Misfortunes & Other One-Liners
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...
Read MoreTop 75 NBA Stories–Dialing Up Billy C in 1968
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...
Read MoreWowing You With Cuteness! (A V-Day Special Q&A)
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...
Read MoreThis One’s For Hugh! (Jackman, Of Course)
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...
Read MoreMy Nobel Prize–A Gratitude Party! Save The Date!
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...
Read MoreTaking Care Of Business Or A Mid-Life Blog Crisis
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...
Read MoreSnap Out Of It! It’s The Year of The Tiger
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!...
Read MoreYour User Guide! (To Binge-Read A Muse4Mama Or Skip To The Parts You Love)
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...
Read MoreLet’s Crush 2022! Make Our Dreams Come True
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...
Read MoreDivine Inspiration From My Stocking
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...
Read MoreA Custom-merry Christmas Card BTS
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...
Read MoreThe Halfway House Between Life & Death
I’ll be serious with you for a change, as fun as I’ve made cancer out to be. There needs to be a disclaimer: don’t try this at home. In other words, don’t go looking for cancer. But sometimes, cancer finds you or a loved one, and then all the jokes...
Read MoreYou Wanna Take A Four-Minute Retreat With Me? Promise to Amuse!
“A retreat? You must be kidding me.” you say. It’s true, I’ve done my fair share of kidding, but I’m always kidding, and I’ll get to the funny parts in a moment, but yes, a retreat. It’s not so easy to even think about, let alone do. I’m only asking...
Read MoreA New-Fashioned Thanksgiving: All Care For All
We took a non-traditional approach to Thanksgiving this year–we celebrated a day early. It felt almost as realistic. By the end of the meal, we talked at the table, wondering how all that preparation ended in our stomachs in just under 15 minutes. We swiveled our near-empty glasses and lingered...
Read MoreSurviving Cancer Was Easy–Now What?
A friend asked me what was the hardest part of cancer, and without blinking I said, when it’s all over. It might be hard to believe but I’d do any of this past year over and over again rather than have to deal with today. Maybe I’ll come up with...
Read MoreBosom Buddies: Leaving The Port Behind
My radiologist and I recently celebrated our first and only anniversary. Though I had to go under the knife to meet him and see him again, he put my port in last October and took my port out a year later. We vow never to see each other again, but...
Read MoreJust Another Mischief Night
Remember The Talking Heads “Burning Down The House” and when we all got out toilet paper and shaving cream on mischief night? Even if you don’t, it was the night before Halloween this year, of course, and mom was searching for old traditions. She asked, “With it being mischief night,...
Read MoreNo Trick, Just A Honky-Tonk Treat
Okay, I’m not in Nashville for Halloween, but I somehow had to fit in our college visiting trip story from a few weeks ago. It’s a real treat. So where were we? I had my last infusion, rang the bell, and went to Nashville the following week. Not that I...
Read MoreCounting To Nowhere To Catch A Cold
There’s this game that we all play that the girls and I have coined ‘counting to nowhere.’ We’re all counting down the days until life isn’t so hectic or we regain our health, or we stop grieving a loss. Suppose we could make it to the new year? Then we’ll...
Read MoreYou Can Ring My Bell, Finally!
September 29th came and went without any fanfare (like a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it) though I rang that bell anyway. I didn’t plan anything. Why bother? They didn’t have a bell for me when I finished the hardcore stuff–remember the No-Bell Prize? My...
Read MoreNo Matter How Small, Ya’ll!
I’ve got so much to tell y’all, if I could only hold onto my Nashville accent until I can finally write that blog post on our visit to the music city. We’re here, after all, and I’ve got a hysterical story that I can’t wait to tell. But I’ve got...
Read More50 Things We Love Most About Alex
For my 50th, I got all the bells and whistles–a trip to London to go wild at the Mamma Mia party! Meanwhile, Alex’s mid-life crisis comes off like any other day. Alexandra’s the lead in Suessical, Jr., so after today’s matinee, there’s strike; it’s all about her right now. However,...
Read More560 Days To Take A Gander At “Come From Away”
After 560 days, we were welcomed to the rock by Joel Hatch yesterday, where he first appeared in “Come From Away” as the mayor of Gander. What we weren’t expecting was just how cathartic that welcome would be. I have many ways to take this story, but if the writers...
Read MoreThe Anniversary Special: An Outlier With A Twist Of People Pleaser
Twenty-three years ago today, Alex married an outlier. I was all dressed in white, so I looked like any other bride, but I stood out from the crowd in ways we were too young to understand. But Alex and I always lived on the outskirts; we did our own thing,...
Read MoreNot Without My Boob Squad
It took me year, but I finally learned the truth: we all need a boob squad. No, I’m serious here. I used to think I got my life covered. I could go it alone. I didn’t need any help. But breast cancer taught me how much fun it is to...
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