• Family - History

    CONNECTIONS

    I grew up hearing stories about my ancestor, Captain Samuel Brockelbank, from my father and mother.  In my small town of Georgetown, Massachusetts, he was famous.  His former home, one of the oldest houses in town and now entitled “The Brocklebank Museum”, bore a sign during the 1970’s that read,…

  • Family - History

    Famous Last Words

    This is a real gravestone in Georgetown, Massachusetts at Harmony Cemetery. David Brockelbank was my father, and he was a pretty funny guy. He was also eternally young… and had kind of a Peter Pan outlook on life. He left our family when I was 10 and I didn’t see…

  • Art - History - Inspiration

    Frida Kahlo

    Why are we obsessed with Frida Kahlo?  Over the past several decades her popularity has soared.  She is one of the most famous female artists in the world, instantly recognizable due to her thrilling self-portraits.  Her fame has eclipsed that of her husband, mural painter Diego Rivera, who at the…

  • Family - History

    ALICE M. – HIS WIFE

    In a cemetery in Danvers, Massachusetts there is a tombstone that bears the name of my grandfather, Herbert.  Etched on the line underneath him is listed my grandmother, Alice as “his wife”.  This is an old-fashioned tradition that dates back centuries, but I take great issue with listing my spunky…

  • Food - History

    The Taste of Coffee

    My relationship with coffee started at my first summer job in Boston while working for a law firm.  I was earning money for college in the fall, and had a difficult early morning schedule.  I rode into the city with a senior colleague who insisted on leaving our small town…

  • History - Inspiration - Poetry

    WORLD CITIZENS

    As a child*, I listened in fear at the end of the Cold War.Adults spoke defiantly, as each new threshold was reached in Space   by US or THEM. Who are THEY, I wondered? They are Soviets.  My teachers taught me fear for many years.I wondered, are the Soviet children   afraid…

  • Garden - History

    The Power of Flowers – A Day at Elm Bank

    The New England Fall Flower Show was held at The Garden at Elm Bank, the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, on September 21 and 22, 2024.  I went there as a representative of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, reporting for their quarterly newsletter, The Mayflower.  New to the…

  • Family - Food - History

    Rebooting an Old Tradition

    As a child I spent parts of my summer vacation with my mother’s relatives, mostly her sister.  My Aunt Jo had two daughters my age, and since my own sister was five years my senior and wanted nothing to do with me, having two playmates who actually wanted my company…