At the end of Bon Voyage, Pittsfield week came Howdy ho, Cape Cod week. (Listen, some of us know how to “summer,” amiright?) Even though my family is sporadically far-flung and the majority of us have established households, it felt really good to spend our vacation in the spot that my Dad adored (and made us promise to visit this August), spread his ashes in the part of the ocean he loved best, and be together for reasons neither funereal nor {Read More}
East Coast drive, part eleventy-billion.
July 23, 2015 By 5 Comments
So how does one follow up a Monday post of E.R. announcements? With the information that I’ll be hitting the road- with all three kids- to drive out East again. Tomorrow. (Yes. I know. Whatever you’re thinking- I agree.) P.J. is staying behind for the first part of the trip and is meeting up with us for the beachy jaunt. (Because he’s a very, very good planner.) But I have a secret weapon- never fear. My sister Kate. She’s flying {Read More}
First Father’s Day without him, a.k.a. Hiding out in the records.
June 22, 2015 By 3 Comments
Possessions are not people. They do not have the power to physically, truly, replace a person nor bring him back nor make things good again. And keeping every object that someone you loved once loved is not a sustainable, good, or fair practice for any party involved. I know this. I’ve told myself this. I remind myself that I know that I told myself this. That said, I own a goodly portion of my Dad’s record collection. Like, hundreds. And {Read More}
35 Beats 34 And Here’s Why.
June 8, 2015 By Leave a Comment
If I may be permitted to post about my birthday one last time (for this year, anyhow)… 34 was a hard age. In fact, it was my toughest year ever. It actually had very little to do with the number or the midthirtiness of it all, and more to do with the fact that 34 was the year which kinda shook the ground beneath my feet. The day I turned 34, I was the mother of a 4 year-old, 2 {Read More}
Grief Looks Like That? (And Other Concerns My Friends Have.)
June 1, 2015 By 2 Comments
Here’s something else they don’t tell you about grief: It doesn’t look like you’d expect it to look. If I had my way- and I do so love to have my way- I’d perch myself somewhere and don an appropriately demure black lace veil. Clutch some wilting violets to my (also appropriately) faded volume of The Book of Folly. My face would be pressed against a window streaming with rivulets of rain and, when I cried, it would be with {Read More}
Wedding Weekend 2: The Bride of Wedding Weekend.
May 14, 2015 By 2 Comments
So, as promised, here’s a smattering of my youngest sister’s #flynnpesq Wedding Weekend 2015 highlights. (Because we’d need a coffee table book for the whole dang shebang. We’d probably need to borrow a few more coffee tables, too.) And as I don’t yet have access to Em’s sure-to-be glorious wedding photos (and because my phone was someone else for the majority of the day), here are a few cobbled-together pix: The hotel had a salt water pool. It was freezing. {Read More}
Time Capsule: Actual Film Edition.
April 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
I developed three rolls of film yesterday. That’s right, I took actual film in to be developed. And not in a hipster “Oh, I’ll just use my makeshift darkroom secured by vintage jacquard curtains” way. No. I took three, wedding flower-decorated, disposable cameras into the corner Walgreens and handed a confused photo employee a time capsule. “Do you develop these?” “Uhh…I think so?” Back story: I had unearthed these gems last month while sorting some boxes at my folks’ home. {Read More}
I Just Got My First Tattoo. (A Dad Story.)
April 23, 2015 By 4 Comments
Three days after my Dad died, I got a tattoo. My very first tattoo. Lemme back up: I had never- never- wanted a tattoo before. Even with the magnitude of incredible events I’ve been privy to in my 34 years (like, you know, creating THREE PEOPLE), there was never a symbol that I needed have on my body. Certainly not one dug into place by a whirring and rather sharp needle. (The fear trifecta, for those of you playing along at {Read More}
