I am behind my time this morning. Nala was crying so I got up, went downstairs and let her out. I decided I was still tired so I went back to bed. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I took my time, finished all the puzzles in the paper, made a pot of coffee and read my e-mail. This is the only day of the week I have an empty dance card so the sloth in me is strong.

The weather is a delight. It rained early this morning, in the wee hours. Last night was perfect for sleeping. Right now it is 78°, breezy and alternatively sunny and cloudy. It might rain.

My mother would have been 99 today. I thought of her as soon as I woke up. She was amazing. She was thoughtful and she was funny. I can’t recall the exact number of Boggle games we played, but I swear it had to be in the thousands. We’d sit at her kitchen table for hours. She gave our lives her special touch. I still miss her every day.

I have this gift. When I close my eyes, I can see places, routes, even the number of stop lights. One trip I loved was to East Boston to visit my grandparents. There was so much to see, so much I still remember. Part of the trip was on Route 1 through Saugus. My head swiveled from side to side so I wouldn’t miss a thing. Just before we got on the highway, there was a private pond for fishing. I remember the trespass warnings on the gate. A store right at the exit sold wedding gowns. I always checked the store window. Another store sold German sausages. It sold other things, but I only remember the sign for the sausages. A giant dinosaur stood at the miniature golf course. Adventure Car Hop, the restaurant Woo Woo Ginsberg on WMEX on his Night Train Show touted, was at the rotary. I always wanted for us to stop but we never did. The St. Anthony of Padua church was the biggest church I had ever seen. Its back faced the road. I remember oil tankers tied up at piers. The smell of the oil permeated the air. The last thing was the hill. A project with brick buildings was below that hill. On top of it was where the giant statue of Madonna Queen of the Universe Shrine stood. My grandparent’s house was just a few streets beyond that hill. I remember cars filled the parking spaces along the roadsides. My father used to drop us off then he’d hunt for a place to park.

So many other routes stick in my memory drawers. One vibrant memory is the walk from my school in Bolga to town. I see it perfectly. That is the most wonderful gift of memory.

This entry was posted on August 13, 2026 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.