I have a number of women friends that I consider very strong in their beliefs and convictions. Each female friend is formidable in her own right and I would not have it any other way. You see, I am one of those women that likes other women. I am never envious or turned off by a woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get there. I learn by them. A woman that whines does not do herself justice. One of my girlfriends went through tough financial times. Yet she continues to hold her head up high and I never hear my friend complain. She is teaching her children to be self-sufficient. I …

For those left here on earth death is so final … As you can imagine throughout my life I have attended many wakes and funerals. Never a pleasant thing but I go and willingly participate in long held traditions and rituals. You see, I believe in God. I merely tell you this so you can decipher from whence I come. An aunt, my mother’s dear sister, died and her passing is very sad to say the least. Aunty suffered since birth and because of her many sufferings the family believes her death is a true blessing. We all believe that she is in heaven now with the rest of our dearly departed family. ‘…

Last but never least, Diane …   This story is about our first-born. Her name is Diane. We affectionately call her, Dee. My husband Ken and I became overwhelmed with joy upon hearing we were pregnant with our first child. My parents were going to be grandparents for the first time, and even though my in-laws had many grandchildren, they too waited in happy anticipation. Now, what to name the baby was an entirely different story. Everyone had their favorite names all picked out and each one made their choice known on almost a daily basis. Since our first child was going to be born in the spring…

HURRICANE!! Well, that’s what most every reporter and commentator on television was screaming for days. My husband and I live in the North East about a mile from the coast. The changing of weather is a common occurrence in New England. We all understand, and most of us I am sure agree, storms are to be reckoned with and should not be taken lightly. However, sometimes the media acts as though an ending of civilization is at our doorsteps. You remember the blizzard of '78? We virtually had little warning. It hit our area with vengeance and no one has ever forgotten that storms impact. We could …

When our third daughter was born she only weighed a wee speck over six pounds. At long last the day came to bring our brand new baby daughter home from the hospital. Kim was so tiny that she went from my fingertips to just barely over the wrist. Therefore, her father lovingly nicknamed her Peanut. Those of you in Plymouth may know her for all the good things she does in and around town. Her name is Kimberly Jean McDonough and her father and I adore her. As a child Kim was constantly running around the house as if her hair were on fire. Only stopping to take a breath or two, and never-ever …

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is this September. May God bless those that lost their lives. God bless their families and God bless this country. Do you remember where you were on Sept. 11, 2001? I do. Most people remember and everyone can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing. Ken was shaving and I was outside feeding the birds when the phone rang. It was our daughter Diane. Breathlessly she instructed us to put on the news. We did. The rest made history. All day Ken and I sat in front of the television set watching as buildings came rumbling down like matchsticks. As thick…

Given my triple A personality, whereas I have to do everything before its due time, the following story was written the second week in June. Naturally, July kicked in and the weather turned hot, hot, hot. Just goes to prove how impatient I really am. Do you believe in global warming? From what I hear and read, some do and some don’t. The debate rages on and it probably will for years. All I know is, I’m freezing and it is the middle of freaking June. I remember reading something on this very subject when I was a kid. The journal reported that in the distant future part of our country would be…

Do you dream? I do and I dream in vivid color. When I first gave up smoking, all those years ago, a few of my dreams would be about smoking. Upon waking up I actually thought I smelled tobacco smoke in my dream. Some people insist they don’t dream and my husband is one of those people. I say hogwash; everyone dreams. We’ve had a running debate over this very subject for far too long. Doctors say the person who believes that they don’t dream just doesn’t remember dreaming. Scientists assert that dreaming is an essential part of a good night’s rest. Over the years, these scientists have …

Second in a lineup of four. All I wanted to eat was saltines. Saltines with lots of gooey rich honey drizzled on them to be precise but that was after not eating for four solid months. All I could get down was leek soup. Yuck!   When I became pregnant with our second child I was so sick I had to stay in bed for four months. Therefore when my appetite finally returned I ate anything and everything that didn’t stand still. Enter a plate load of saltines and honey. I gained well-over fifty pounds. When our second child Corrine was finally born she cried for three days straight in the hospital …

There are so many people in Plymouth that I can credit with keeping the town welcoming, viable and beautiful that I would have to write at least a hundred columns of thanks. The following narrative is only about two of those people. I respect them both greatly. Everyone that knows me understands that I am very pro-business. My reasoning comes from an understanding of how local businesses go a long way to help the residential taxpayer. My hat is off to Denis Hanks and the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce for the Chamber works exceptionally hard to bring good businesses into town. The Plymouth…

Libraries are one of the greatest contributions a town can offer its citizens. When I was growing up my mother and I visited our local library every four days. My father started to teach me how to read when I was three years old. Therefore, I knew how to read going into kindergarten and by the time I reached second grade I was reading at the fourth grade level. I owe this, not only to my family’s foresight, but continue to send many thanks to the local libraries. When I reached the sixth grade Mother suggested that I read a book called The Diary of Anne Frank. I asked her who she was and …

Should I be concerned? Age has nothing to do with forgetfulness. Well, almost. Over the years, I have had so many irons in the fire, at any given time, that I am apt to forget the simplest of things. Years ago, and I mean about twenty-five years, I went to my hairdresser, and as usual, left very pleased. From the hairdressing salon I drove directly to the mall. It was a warm spring day. As I walked from store to store, I kept thinking to myself; gee, people are so pleasant today. Everyone is looking at me and smiling. It put me in a real good mood. That was until I passed by a mirror and …

He was a member of our family for almost eighteen years. Our loyal friend was always eager to please; he never had a cross word and boy could he run. We named him Lucky and lucky he was. As I said, he lived one month short of eighteen years. That’s a long time for a dog and for most all of his life he was healthy. Yet, when it came time, Lucky did not want to go anywhere and hung on longer than we should have let him. Looking back, we were selfish in not letting him go. Finally, with great pain, we broke down and brought him to the vet. When Lucky died, I have to tell you it was a very …

Ken and I have four wonderful children. We are blessed. I have written loving memories about all of them and will submit those stories later. To be fair, I placed all of their names in a box and picked one. The first story is about our son Scott. My son is very spiritual and goes to church every Sunday. Even when he was a little boy Scott had a deep love for his fellow man and to this day tries to live his life with kindness and understanding. He is a good man. He is a good son. Scott was in the fourth grade, three months, when I received a call from his principal. I could not imagine what he…

To put it mildly, I have a troublesome back and it is very difficult to sit still for too long. That’s why I don’t attend too many board or committee meetings where a hard chair is involved. If I do go, you will probably find me speaking on some important matter but more than likely, I’m there to give support to a friend or initiative. On the other hand, I make darn sure to watch the meetings on our live local cable access station or I’ll catch every rerun during the week. Actually to tell you the truth, I enjoy going to town hall. I like interacting with the employees and our town officials…

Recently a friend, perhaps I should say supposed friend, asked me how much time was I spending on the Internet. Specifically, Facebook. I explained to her that since I’m very good at multi-tasking it really doesn’t matter and just because you see my face pop up doesn’t mean I’m on all day. I’ve been known to leave Facebook on and go out. Back to my friend; she was having none of it. I could not believe her reaction. She looked at me, chuckled and gave me one of her raised eyebrows. Well! That got me thinking. As a result, I sat myself down and typed out exactly everything I do during the …

As a child I have such warm family memories of Nantasket and Revere Beach. Mother and Father had a running debate as to which beach was better. Father was a North Shore boy and Mother was brought up in South Boston and sometimes traveled by boat over to Nantasket. My parents were very loyal to their beach of choice and articulated that preference loudly and frequently. Practically every Sunday in the summer, my sister, brother and I knew we were going to one of those beaches. We started anticipating Sunday at the beach on Friday and waited not so patiently for our fun filled beach day. Mother…

My husband Ken and I moved to Plymouth in 1975 and, although that seems like a long time ago, it really doesn’t feel that way. At the time, Ken and I were in our late twenties. Ken actually cashed in one of his insurance policies and his sacrifice enabled us to put money down on a cute little house. The house we chose was a few miles away from downtown Plymouth, in the area known as Manomet. We were young, eager, bright eyed and ready to face the future. Bringing up our four wonderful children in the village of Manomet was a pleasure from the start. Although, when we first showed the new …