Mozart was from Maine Lab Rescue, and he was the family’s first dog. Mo had breathed new life into our home and family. He loved being outdoors. His face captured the look of wonder that we all felt whenever we stepped out into a Maine day. On this November morning, the wind blew cold. Dad […]

We were just finishing our wonton soup when the waiter came over and said, “Excuse me, is one of you Captain Coleman?” My husband stood up. “You have a call.” When he returned, his voice was measured but anxious. “That was Vickie. She can’t find Todd.” My best friend Carol took my hand, squeezed it […]

Certain things hold memories of Ben. Flannel shirts wrapped around me like blankets on crisp summer nights at the cabin, the drumsticks he used to carry everywhere that haven’t moved from his drum set for over four years, the potholes we tried to dodge between laughs and bites of french fries, and an empty glass […]

My just-after-dark drive home from the grocery store last summer was a windows-down, radio-a-little-too-loud kind of ride. It included the sweet smell of cut grass from nearby fields on the warm night air. It was the perfect kind of night, and it included something unexpected. I got a call from a Hannaford clerk saying someone […]

It’s a bright, crisp, late-winter morning in Maine. The snowstorm from the day before left the trees and yard glistening. My oldest son, Michael, just returned home with a friend with plans to take a snowmobile ride. “There’s a dead cat on the road,” Michael tells his dad. “It looks like Cloud.” Cloud is our […]

Dating back to Tom Wolfe’s essays, I’ve been hip to the tyranny of style – but hip to it doesn’t mean immune. I drove convertibles with long fins when I was chasing perfect teenage tans. But as I grew to adulthood, I graduated to the vicissitudes of men of my era: Nehru collars and, eventually, […]

Occasionally I get overzealous in my downsizing and regret that I have let go of sentimental items. Such was the case of a Valentine of a bunny saying “Baby’s First Valentine,” given to me by my Aunt Theresa and taken out of a scrapbook, and my childhood Shirley Temple doll (complete with two dresses, one […]