I was going through old photos and cards today, and I came across a letter which I’d forgotten about, from my adoptive mother, dated June 26, 2002.
The letter is honest, direct and heartfelt. It’s in response to one that I wrote. I don’t have a copy of my letter, but it seems from her answer that I had tried to explain the pain of my growing-up years.
The letter goes like this:
“Your last letter blew my mind. I’ve written draft after draft trying to answer it. Thought I’d start with the past and work my way up to the present.
Author Archives: marcia
Winter
It’s not just the snow on the ground or the frigid temperatures, but the absence of almost all event listings except movies, high school sports and support group meetings: winter is here on Cape Cod.
New Year’s Day
It’s 8.4
The Bush Years and the Equity Indices
My friend Ben Day pointed this out, and I doubled checked his numbers to be sure: since the start of the supposedly pro-business Bush administration, the three major equity indices declined by 18, 33, and 43%, respectively.
January 22, 2001, Index Closing Values
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 10,578.24
Standard & Poor’s 500: 1,342.90
NASDAQ Composite: 2,757.91
December 31, 2008, Index Closing Values
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 8,776.39
Standard & Poor’s 500: 903.25
NASDAQ Composite: 1,577.03
New Year’s Eve
I’ve cleaned out the frig, paid bills, put up the new calendars and plan to make a trip to the transfer station this morning, hopefully before the snow gets out of control.
They’re predicting blizzard conditions tonight, which may preclude New Year’s Eve fireworks. I’d probably pass anyway, am still fighting the end of a cold which leaves me spent by about 6 or 7 pm. I’ll miss being in Newport, but maybe next year.
Except for a handful of people, like Barack Obama and Joe Biden, I don’t think there will be many who will look back with joy to 2008. It was a horrible year for me personally, and a very bad year for the economy.
It’s now 10:32 AM, and the snow, which started around 9, is coming down like fury. The roads were covered by quarter to 10. Peter postponed the transfer station run, a good call. I was on my way to their house from Stop & Shop when he phoned. By the time I got to 151, traffic was crawling at 20 MPH.
2008, a lousy year to the bitter end. Happy 2009.
VISTA, in Retrospect
I got a new laptop last month and as has been the case for a while with Windows-based systems, it came with VISTA. I took it as a professional challenge to better understand the problems people have with this operating system and was determined to master it anyway.
Winter Solstice
Last week, it felt like the calendar was stuck around the shortest days of the year, which actually took place on December 22 and 24.
In fact yesterday, Sunday the 28th, was the actual beginning of the consistent lengthening of days, as sunset gets later and later.
It won’t be until January 9 that sunrise gets earlier and earlier. We get to have longer days until the fourth week in June, when the descent to winter starts all over again.
My Bit for the Economy
I don’t like to shop, not even for groceries. I rarely buy on impulse and hardly ever pay full price. Even though diagnosed with major depression, I never succumbed to shopping addiction. In short, I am the retail sector’s worst nightmare, but yesterday, I had not one, not two, but three really good shopping experiences.
Thank Goodness It’s Over
It’s over, thank goodness, and the insufferable “Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays” pseudo-controversies like this one will go away for another year.
Only one more holiday before the relative serenity of January.
Working Doors, Brand New Floors
I spent Christmas Eve and am spending Christmas day in my sister and brother-in-law’s house.
It’s a small but significant cultural shock to be in a home where everything works and the rooms, uncluttered and well-organized, are serene and pleasant.