I think all married people do this; at least that's what I tell myself. No matter how hard we try, we lose bits of ourselves over time. Commitment is a horribly abused word. As with the word, literally, it rarely... Read more →

I drove north to Starksboro on September 9 with no end date in sight. That's not me; I want concrete plans, or at least concrete foundations. I can improvise on that. The only concrete things I had were the drive... Read more →

He is a whisper in a dim room in a country where poverty is defined differently. He wears his magic around his neck, and a person might not see the talismans and totems hanging on the walls and from the... Read more →

Elizabeth performed her first airport pickup a little after 8 PM on February 27. Her mother mentioned it was odd seeing a mask or two on the plane. It reminded her of the SARS epidemic where some people wore masks... Read more →

So I can get a Chappaqua station pass? AILISH ELIZABETH MCCARTHY! Right. So you'll pick me up? In what world? The late train? Maybe. **** I'm going to Hunter in the fall. They let me in. Any particular reason they... Read more →

The night after Christmas, the house flipped over, rolled once or twice, and crashed into the marsh. The tail end of 2008 thumped twice, and expired. The remaining residents of 43 Blue Spruce Circle put themselves on life support and... Read more →

Freshman Year - Fall Semester: Lesson Number One: these are not your siblings These are not your siblings. If you were lucky enough to grow up with a room of your own, that time is over. The room you share... Read more →

When she was twelve she said: "I can't wait to get out of this town. I'm going to New York City where people are weird." Her mother and sister affectionately call her, 'that creepy little kid'. We see you, Elizabeth,... Read more →

On her ninth birthday, Elizabeth abruptly chose a different path. She turned her back on the Mean Girls and set about making herself invisible. In truth, she wasn't so much invisible as invulnerable. While bullying via social media became the... Read more →

Well before I married Elizabeth's father we talked about children. In those early conversations we didn't talk about financial weight so much as the emotional and support commitments; those nebulous things that go well past shelter, clothing, and food. To... Read more →