I attended my 50th high school reunion last fall. Of course, it was a terrific time, especially since it was the first I’d ever been to. I was glad for the little name tags and reproduced yearbook photos that the very capable organizers thought to include for each of us. I would have been hard-pressed […]

Many moments in my life have been capped off by a graduation. I’ve graduated from Daisy Girl Scouts to Brownies, from Brownies to Junior, and so on. I’ve graduated from fifth grade, eighth grade, 12th grade and college. For all of these milestones, I’ve celebrated with people who mean the world to me. They have […]

It is commencement season, and so I contemplate the succinct messages being delivered to graduating classes. There is a body of thought that usually surfaces at this time of year, delivered by a voice with as much eminence as a school can recruit. They tend to be the voices of prominence and wisdom. They will […]

I recently flew to Scotland to meet with the Sangster family and scatter part of Mike’s ashes, per his wishes. The second leg of my trip took me to Ireland for the wedding celebration of Mike’s eldest nephew. The trip across the pond did not disappoint. Our day to scatter Mike’s ashes was filled with […]

The moment the band began playing “Pomp and Circumstance,” I reached into my purse for a tissue. Today closed a chapter in my daughter Aimee’s life, our life, as she marched into the auditorium for her high school graduation. She held her head high, trying to look serious. That wasn’t possible, it wasn’t her nature. […]

In this season, graduations are happening all around. This topic got me to think of the four of which I was a participant – in particular, the one at Schenck School in 1960. For the “honor” of having the highest grades in our class of 16, I was told by our teaching principal, Kenneth Taylor, […]

It was a June evening in 1982, at Gray-New Gloucester High School. I zipped the flimsy graduation robe over my white and navy dress. I remember it was sailor-style; in retrospect a bit juvenile, but I was still more child than woman. I draped the yellow stole and the double-tasseled cord around my shoulders, then […]

My adult son is a drug addict: currently an addict in very early recovery. He has been in and out of detox and sober living so often that I have honestly lost count. I haven’t even written down the date of his last detox. My hopes have been shattered so many times throughout the years. […]