Nancy Ruhling's Astoria Characters

At Sac’s Place, Domenico Sacramone is sipping a cup of coffee at the bar and going through last night’s receipts when his brother, Anthony, comes in. Domenico co-owns Sac’s Place. Anthony, who is older by a decade and shorter by a half foot, didn’t leave the Italian restaurant/bar they’ve owned for three decades until nearly 2 in the morning. It’s barely 10 a.m., which means that he’s only had a couple hours sleep. But it doesn’t matter. He’s glad to be here. Up…

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At the entrance to the basement apartment, there’s a sign that proclaims, in all-capital letters, “LOVE LIVES HERE.” Katrina, Homer and Tiffany. And so do Tiffany Hopkins and Katrina Olson and their cats, 9-year-old Homer and 13-year-old Thursday. In this happy house, homemade biscuits are baking as Tiffany and Katrina set the breakfast table. Their careers keep them busy and sometimes apart, so they do everything together, including the cooking and baking. Homer, who, when…

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It’s play time! Miro, a 2-year-old Australian Shepherd/hound mix who has a dash of blue in one eye, can’t wait for his pals to arrive at the new dog run. He keeps looking up at his human: “Where are they? Are they here yet? Can I have a treat — or two or three — until they get here? Please, please, please?” Bandit, Miro and Raffi greet each other. Before many treat-less dog seconds pass, Bandit, a 2-year-old Siberian Husky with big blue eyes, barges in with his human…

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What a Kong-tastic day! Powell  “Chuck E. Baby” Leonard and Ella “Miz E with a Z” Louise Smith are standing on the sidewalk goofing off. Surprise! It’s Ella. They’re cracking each other up with funny, frightening and frightened faces. And throwing punch lines like boxers in a ring. He’s wearing an orange hat and jacket; she’s clad in an electrifying orange and yellow Hawaiian-style shirt. At the same time, they realize they are dressed in matching colors.…

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When Catherine Kapphahn was a little girl, she sensed that there were things her mother wasn’t telling her. Catherine is the author of “Immigrant Daughter.” What she knew was that her mother was from the former Yugoslavia and that she did things that other mothers didn’t — she took dancing lessons, she took miles-long walks around the neighborhood and she felt her friends’ pain as intensely as if  it were her own. And, sometimes, in the middle of the night, she…

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