About once a year, I do a Google search for Noah Adams’ NPR interview with Frank McCourt so I can hear McCourt’s lovely Irish voice and once again, be inspired. Why was is Frank McCourt my inspiration? Because it was after hearing NPR’s 2009 interview with Frank McCourt, that I knew I wanted to write my […]
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Christmases Past
Following is a chapter from my—as yet unpublished—memoir, THE GIRL WITH THE BLACK AND BLUE DOLL. At this time of year, I think we all are drawn back to memories of Christmases Past. Chapter Thirty-Three One Christmas Morning In contrast to the festivities at Mémère’s cottage, Christmas was pretty much nonexistent downstairs at Babci and […]
Veterans Day 2021
It’s Veterans Day, the federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, to honor the military men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces. I’ve been sitting here for 30 minutes, trying to find the words to begin. I’ve decided to share a radio script I wrote and recorded […]
The Peace Train
Yesterday, in honor of International Peace Day, Yosef/Cat Stevens and Playing for Change, assembled a cast of musicians and singers from around the world. If you haven’t watched it yet, prepare to be moved with Love and Hope. International Peace Day – Peace Train 2021
Time and Distance
It’s been a long summer of hot weather and hot heads. Hot tomatoes in the garden. Hot, crispy lawns that are fighting back to go green again. And now, 9/11. I almost feel embarrassed to post my trivial experiences from that day and the days following, but it’s like the Kennedy Assassination. We know where […]
Night Falls
I confess. I love to read in the hot tub after dark. I put my Kindle in a quart-size zip lock bag, lie back, and rest my “Kindle bag” on one of those inflatable bathtub pillows. Not jets, no light. All I want is the sky and the sounds of the night. I read as […]
RIP Mummy Mother Mom
Mummy died yesterday on Easter afternoon. Perhaps it’s somewhat symbolic given the nature of the holy day. Most might say she “passed away,” but I have no issue with directness. “Died” is direct. Flowers die. Trees die. They wither as their cells cease to receive nourishment from the earth and rain. “Passed away” has religious […]
Heaven
You might recall that my 92-year-old mother was diagnosed with Covid-19 in April 2020. She was quarantined on the Covid floor at her nursing home in Massachusetts for 30 days. She seemed to have a mild case and recovered completely. That’s the Mummy we all know: the baby girl born prematurely in the third-floor walk-up […]
This Is Where It Began
This is The Farm. One-hundred acres of wild woods and domesticated fields. A couple dozen milk cows, two draft horses, two pigs, twelve+ rabbits, twelve-odd laying hens, twenty-four ducks, one billy goat, one barn cat named Jasper, and one mongrel dog named Skippy. And four barefoot kids. “I have always loved wild places. I grew […]
The First Memoir I Ever Read…
The first memoir I ever read was Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. It caught my ear as I was waiting in the car while my husband popped into an auto parts store. We were parked at the intersection of Route 412 and Butterfield Coach Road in Springdale, Arkansas and the auto parts surely had something to […]