Monthly Archives: May 2016

How adoption is a special kind of love story

There was a little girl who was one of four children. She ended up in foster care because her parents made bad choices of addiction and lawlessness, and her grandmother, who had taken over her care, had issues too and left her on the doorstep at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Her […]

How I am reclaiming our house as my home

I was sitting in my living room the other evening, stretched out in my favorite recliner, while I worked on a crochet project. My 5-year-old Brittany dog Thistle was curled up like a little caterpillar in my lap. Her son, 2-year-old Quincy, was stretched out beside me in the chair. The other two dogs were […]

Sending out an olive branch to myself

I have a love-hate relationship with my forsythia bush. It was on my property before it was my property, having been planted at the end of a hedge of bridal wreath spirea by an owner or two before me. Its full and beautiful yellow blooms entice me in spring. I watch for them to pop […]

Dealing with the scars left by the rituals of death

Funerals tend to take on a life of their own. There are the expected initial arrangements to transport the body of the deceased to the funeral home or whatever other institution is supposed to handle it. Then comes the notification of relatives and friends about the death, the meeting with the funeral home about the […]