Category Archives: Friends

A Good Ache

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Yesterday I had a friend do something for me that moved me to a loss for words (don’t worry, the words have since returned) and a few tears.

Have I ever told you about my love affair with Portland, Maine? No? Well, pull up a chair.

I grew up in New York City but never felt comfortable there. Looking back now, I realize that I was a teenage girl and wouldn’t have been comfortable anywhere, but at the time, I thought I had to get away. I wanted to go as far away as I could from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but I needed to be within a day’s drive of my parents’ open arms. So I went to the University of Maine (for those New York Times crossword puzzle fans among you) in Orono, Maine.

I fell in love with the state. As almost anyone who has ever lived in Maine will tell you, it has a magnetic draw. An indescribable pull that makes it difficult to leave. So after I left Orono, I moved to Portland. I got an internship at the Portland Stage Company. The year was 1990 and I was twenty-one. I had a fourth-floor-walk-up apartment on Danforth Street where I could hear the fog horns from every room. There was a digital clock on top of a downtown bank building that I could see from my bedroom window. I woke often to see single digit temperatures blinking brightly into my bed.

At the theater there was a production manager who I had a thing for. Fifteen years later I married him and we spent the first night of our honeymoon just blocks from that apartment.

Circumstance keeps us from moving back there, or anywhere, for now. But a girl can dream.

So when Kathleen was giving away a copy of Portland Through the Lens, I knew I had to have it.

But Tara’s was the lucky number. I was glad just to know the book existed and figured that one day I would buy it.

And then in yesterday’s mail:

Thank you Kathleen. I was very touched by your generous and thoughtful gesture.

Niall and I poured over it for a long time last night, each retreating to our own memories of  time spent there.

And a special bonus: one of the featured photographers is my newest bf (that’s blog-speak for bloggy-friend) Stephanie!

I love this book. It actually aches to look through it, but if it’s at all possible, it’s a good ache.

Maybe one day…

Thank you for visiting.

Colors of My Day

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Yellow.

This vase was a wedding gift and it lives on our mantle. Niall put it there, on the end next to the window, because he said he likes how it catches the light.

Me too.

And yesterday’s color:

Blue.

If the shot was a bit wider, you’d see all the toys that usually live in that bucket spilled all over the floor.

Things that are exciting me today:

Counting down to Inauguration Day.

Niall is taking the day off and we are attending brunch at friends’. Quinn is too young to appreciate it but Jake is pretty excited. (Nothing like inflicting one’s views on our children.) He seems to understand the significance and we’re hoping to be present in a moment that is certain to become something we look back upon.

In the evening I’m planning to attend the opening of The Obama Show at Eyebuzz in Tarrytown. I don’t know whether I’m more excited to see these in person, or to meet Tara who is one of my favorite bloggers.

Watching Jake perform.

Any mother knows what it feels like to watch their child be happy. It’s an indescribable feeling that affirms your entire being.

My son has struggled, more than any ten and a half year old should, to be happy. He continues to struggle still. But when he is playing the keyboard or singing on stage, he is as happy as I’ve ever seen him. I love to witness this and tonight and tomorrow I will.

If you missed any of my video posts of him, you can watch them here if you’re so inclined (he’s the little one).

Making new friends.

Kathleen at Mamas Always Write has an insightful and honest style that encourages me to write. I have been compelled by her ‘prompts’ since my first visit. It only solidified my interest in her when I found out that she lives in the city of my heart.

Stephanie at The Letter’s Edge writes with a straightforward and quirky voice that is just a little self deprecating and I want to have a cup of coffee with her. She has has recently posed a question that’s got me thinking: what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? I’ll be guest-posting on her blog and addressing that question later in the month.

Meeting both of these women and reading their accounts of motherhood, career decisions, marriage and creativity, further confirms my suspicions that I am not alone.

What is exciting you today?

Thanks for visiting.