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Tag: Mom

Bob & Ray
Recipe for laughter

Recipe for laughter

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Bill’s wife, Barbara, whipped up another batch of comfort food over the weekend. She made several loaves of Cranberry Nut Bread, using Mom’s tried-and-true recipe. Bill brought a loaf with him to this week’s visit with Dad. They chuckled about a favorite Bob & Ray comedy routine that involved a “fast-breaking news” interview with The Cranberry Man: Mom and Dad loved Bob & Ray, and delighted in all the ridiculous characters and parodies they developed over the years. My parents…

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Mom taking a nap, covered by the cherry spread
The cherry spread

The cherry spread

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With all the talk of viruses in the news lately (and a century ago), I think back to the comfort, warmth, and healing provided for many years by the cherry spread. Mom only used the cherry spread when we were ill. The cherry spread plus slowly-sipped ginger ale took care of any number of tummy aches and “bugs.” (To this day, ginger ale tastes like medicine to me.) In many hours of digging, I’ve only found one photo that includes…

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books by the gallon
29 days to read

29 days to read

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There are 29 days in February this year. It is nice to have an extra day to read. Especially since we have gallons of new books. My parents planned last fall to move their bedroom from upstairs to downstairs, into what was then the library. In doing so, they needed a new home for their impressive book collection. Dad says Gary and I were the natural choice, since we have room at our house. I thought it was because I…

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hurricane headline
The great wind

The great wind

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All my life, Dad has talked about what a scamp he was as a kid. Yet, there were no stories to back up his claim. Was this silence on his part due to not wanting to set a bad examples for his four children? Perhaps. It’s only now that the confessions are spilling forth. As his confessor, I am impressed, but not yet mortified. Here’s a story: Times have changed over the generations, thank heavens. Back in the 1930s, Catholics…

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A rose on the altar on Ash Wednesday, Mom and Tom, 1985
Poems: Ash Wednesday, Psalm

Poems: Ash Wednesday, Psalm

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Here are two of Mom’s poems to commemorate Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten Season. ash wednesday nails in the nesta night bird falling and in the housessomethingout of a dark holewet now on the courthouse stepsa dwarfthumbing his nose the bridein jewels before the frosted windowwaits the wind stirsa star under the ground the gold eggs gleam ~ joan vayo 24 February 1979 psalm what birdwaits here in darknessunder the death of the beloved by the lake the…

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Mom's Pittsfield kitchen
Recipe for love

Recipe for love

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Dad stopped in his tracks, inhaled deeply, smiled, and declared: It smells like Mom! No, I didn’t sneak a spritz from the perfume bottle that still sits on her dresser. And I didn’t raid their bathroom cabinet for shampoo or lotion. Even better. Gary and I had a pot roast simmering in the slow cooker. I wish I’d taken a photo of the finished product. But then again, pot roast is not known for its photogenic qualities. Sidenote: If you…

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New Haven Policemen
The dancing policeman

The dancing policeman

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I kid you not: a big star once invited my Grandpa Cassidy to go on the road with him. And not as a security officer – as a tap dancer! Mom’s sister, Bunny, just shared this story with us last week, when Gary and I were visiting Dad in Connecticut. Poor thing, I think I asked her to repeat the story three times – I just couldn’t believe it! Grandpa was a “cop on the beat” in New Haven, Connecticut….

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Reading The Tale of Despereaux
Desperate for Despereaux

Desperate for Despereaux

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Today is World Read Aloud Day. Reading out loud is a tradition in my family. Growing up, Mom read to us every night. As I got older, I read to her as she ironed Dad’s shirts and other wrinkly items before the age of wash-and-wear cotton blends. Together, Mom and I enjoyed The Borrowers, The Secret Garden, and so many other classics. And so, when James was in third grade and his teacher started reading one chapter of The Tale…

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Columbia space shuttle crew
Remember Columbia

Remember Columbia

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Today marks the anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. As the shuttle returned to Earth on February 1, 2003, it broke apart upon re-entry to our planet’s atmosphere. The faces in the crew photo, above, express such hope and excitement. The astronauts are full of knowledge and curiosity. And youth. They look so young. Here are their names, from left: mission specialist David Brown. commander Rick Husband, mission specialist Laurel Clark, mission specialist Kalpana Chawla, mission specialist Michael Anderson,…

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Officer Frank Cassidy
‘The King My Father’

‘The King My Father’

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A week before Mom’s passing, I asked her about what is perhaps my favorite poem, “The King My Father.” At that point, her ability to speak had lessened greatly. Parkinson’s had cruelly robbed her of simple conversation. She regressed from struggling to remember a specific word to the point that she’d start a sentence but would stop after two or three words. And so when I asked her for the backstory about her poem “The King My Father,” my own…

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