It seemed like a good idea, some fifteen years ago or so. Plant a couple…
Changing Lives 8: Welcome Home
A young cousin Helen paid me a supreme compliment this past January as I laid out my plans for moving from Aberdeen, Maryland, to Boston, Massachusetts. She was thrilled to hear that we’d be, for all intents and purposes, neighbors and she described me as “the fun...
Changing Lives 7: There Should Be A Way If There Is A Will
They say it takes nine months to bring a baby into the world and nine months to see a person on to the next. There are reasons for that. Probate requires that the opening of an estate be advertised to overlooked children and random creditors. Fair enough, I have...
Changing Lives 6: I Heard It In IKEA
It was a long day. I rose somewhere before five to drive back to Maryland. Managed to get onto the Massachusetts Turnpike making only a single, not terrible problematic, error. The drowsies hit just after crossing into Connecticut so I found the empty parking lot in...
Changing Lives 5: A Place For Everything
I spent the night on brother Tim’s borrowed air mattress. Such a useful thing. Got cold though. Had just the one blanket and needed to fetch a pair of socks during the wee hours. Come morning I walked to the nearest Starbucks, over at the airport, for a latte and a...
Changing Lives 4: Eclipsing the Past
It is April 8th. This morning I meet with Dan’s estate attorney, Bob Blue, at 10:30 am to finish up details. This afternoon, Turning Leaf ladies come by to “stage” the house for the estate sale that will take place this coming Friday and Saturday. And, of course, the...
Changing Lives 3: Vodka Before One
Of all the challenges posed by closing down Aberdeen and opening up Boston, clearing the refrigerators, freezers and pantries has got to be the worst. So much gets thrown out. So much perfectly good food goes to waste and ultimately creates methane over at the dump....
Changing Lives 2: Doorbells
Back somewhere around 1975, my boyfriend David gave me a Swiss Army knife. He made quite a big deal of its utility, and, honestly, he was right about that. He wasn’t right about much, but he was right about that. Phantom Peals Yesterday the doorbell, a bit of Ring...
Changing Lives 1: Out With The Old
No one asked me, but if they did, this is what I would say. “On your 50th birthday, stop collecting stuff. Immediately. Tell friends and family members that from here on in, you only want comestibles or donations made in your honor. No stuff. No tchotchkes. No...