Pushing on a Rope
Family
Flashback Friday — Reading is Fundamental
The emails are coming in from Catherine’s teachers in advance of Tuesday’s Back to School night. Her Honors World Lit teacher let us know the kids had just finished Gilgamesh, and that they liked it more than they had expected. This kind of class is right up my alley and I can’t wait to hear … Continue reading
All a-Twitter
Four months into retirement Basil has discovered a whole new technological landscape, and I’m paying for it. Now that he has time on his hands (wasn’t this supposed to be temporary retirement???), he’s figured a few things out. For example, I no longer have to stand over him and point to where he needs to … Continue reading
Flashback Friday — Give us a Kiss
Sunday is Grandparents Day, but Catherine needs no special Hallmark nudge to mark the occasion. I’ve probably told you this before, but when she was little, the sun rose and set on my father. Grandpa was IT. Didn’t matter who else was there, whether Sam and Tilly (my parents’ dogs) were trying to angle their … Continue reading
Flashback Friday — A Day to Celebrate
Flashback to my nephew, Nicky, who turns 19 today. This photo is of him and Catherine, probably about 10 years ago, following a Mother’s Day or birthday meal for my mother-in-law at a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue. As you can tell, Nicky has always been mad for Catherine, right from the day she was born. … Continue reading
One more time, with feeling
Senior year is officially under way. Catherine is no longer a “rising senior”; she’s the real deal. The bus just ferried her away. I hid among the trees and bushes and snapped this photo of her walking to the bus stop: And then I stood in the yard and watched until I couldn’t see the … Continue reading
Flashback Friday — Nick of Time
Looking back today at my late father-in-law, Nick, who would have been 95 this past Wednesday. Here he is with Basil. There’s no date on the photo, but Basil thinks it was taken outside their then-home in Stamford, CT, in the late 1950s. It’s strange to see Nick so serious in this photo, for during … Continue reading
Spellbound in Salem
We’ve finally wrapped up Catherine’s college touring. She’s found five she wants to apply to, and now the real work can begin. This past week’s “vacation” had us making our last three stops, all in Massachusetts. The final visit — to Salem State University — turned out to be the most fun. We had a little … Continue reading
Flashback Friday — Pretty as a picture
Catherine’s senior portrait is Wednesday. She’s wrapped up in hair and makeup, and will surely take some of her hard-earned babysitting money and drag me to the mall for a new shirt when we get home from our Massachusetts college visits this weekend. Of course, this week I had to go back in time to … Continue reading
Flashback Friday — Freezing Time
Our Cape Cod vacations were the best — feeding the heart and soul year after year. Basil and I started the annual pilgrimages when we were still dating, heading north Labor Day weekend, then staying on after the crowds crossed the bridge and some quiet had descended. We stopped for a while after Catherine was … Continue reading
Don’t bug me
Catherine has always been afraid of spiders. Once when she was 6 or 7, she stole down the stairs in the dead of night, wearing her favorite blue feetie pajamas — the ones with the clouds on them — and woke Basil up. “Daddy,” she said, “there’s a spider in my room.” Of course Basil … Continue reading
Pushing on a Rope 