It was clear on Sunday afternoon that Tara would absolutely be going to work on Monday. Although she’d expressed misgivings about the work she would be doing, this new job was her chance to get health insurance (after 30 days) and a regular paycheck—two undeniably important and relevant matters that could not be realized were […]

On Day Zero, when Tara and I spent two hours on the phone “chatting,” I asked her, “What were you doing the last time you thought to yourself This is really great.” My question was met with silence, leading me, at first, to think that maybe there’s not been anything great for her recently. Quickly, […]

I saw this text just a few minutes after it arrived. It was from Tara. Tara is my oldest friend. I first met Tara in 1994 when she was hired to work where I’d been working for a year already. My B.A. in philosophy hadn’t been in high demand when I’d returned to Massachusetts from […]

If you’d asked me yesterday what my plans were for today, I would’ve told you that I’d be spending it like just about every other day: read, drink coffee, write, eat fruit, walk in the woods with my dog, cook dinner for my family, maybe take a sauna, finish the movie Rob and I started, […]

Rare in life does one get an offer like the one I’m going to make for you, Erica. It’s up to you on how you want it to play out. You defamed me sixteen months ago, and in so doing, you put me into a dark place. No one had written those words until you […]

Soon after 8:00 on Saturday evening, my family followed the Decoste Family into the lobby at the Middle School to await the election results. I joked with Chuck and said, “Shouldn’t take too long, given the turnout.” He laughed, which I took as my invitation to add, “And I meant what I wrote in that […]

Spring Town Meeting is not on Monday. This year, we’re holding it on Tuesday, and depending on “how things go,” Littletonians might be asked to come back on Wednesday night. I won’t be there. Either night. Wednesday is my 25th wedding anniversary, and Rob and I are going away in an hour, for a week—a […]

All of my posts have largely been idea-centric: Poverty is fixable. Greed is wrong. Loyalties should mean something. If you are the sort of person who harbors animosity toward me and uses this as your reason for ignoring the fact that there is a way to significantly help the poor who live right here in […]

The phrase “what if” embodies humanity’s most distinguishable trait: imagination. All human progress started with, essentially, those two words: “What if we rubbed these two sticks together?” “What if we got into this boat and went that way?” “What if we could make this widget smaller/faster/cheaper/virtual? The authors of the US Constitution, knowing that those […]