Pages From Our Lives

By The WARM Group

Pages From Our Lives is an anthology of memoirs written by 18 members of the WARM (Writing and Reading Memoirs) group. The group began meeting monthly on Zoom in April 2021 to share and discuss members’ memoir writing. Each writer has selected a memoir to be included in this anthology. A sense of trust and friendship binds our writing community together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The WARM Group
• Release date: Dec 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005420314

Book preview

Pages From Our Lives

A WARM Anthology

Edited by

Christine Farrow-Noble and Pamela R. Giller

Copyright © 2022 WARM Group. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written approval from the WARM Group.

Illustrations by Irene Hannigan

Book design: Y42K Publishing Services

https://www.y42k.com/publishing-services/

Dedication

To Chris and Joyce:

You invited us into the ancient art of memoir and led us to new self-knowledge. Your leadership inspired us to build a community of warmth and trust, sharing and creativity. It gave us refuge and new strength during the pandemic, and we look forward to our growth together for years to come. Deep gratitude to you, Chris and Joyce.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Joyce Callaghan

Lasting Connections

Tippy, A Love Story

Larry Abramson

Missy Cowdog

Polly Tausch

Aunt Uffie

Adelaide MacMurray-Cooper

Our Cup Runneth Over

Judy Katz

House

Maggi G. Gaines

Passions

For the Love of Books

Laura Brooks

Bikram Yoga

Joyce Callaghan

Recovering Runner

Enid Eckstein

My Happy Place

Susan Jepson

Why I Write

Valarie Pratt Poitier

Life’s Chapters

Remembering My High School Years

Virginia Crocker

The Worst Year of My Life

Bob Avallone

Aging Along With Computers

Carol Agate

Far and Away

An Au Pair in the Land of the Midnight Sun

Heather P. Thompson-Ryan

My Love Affair with Norway

Clare Sheridan

First Fortnight in New Zealand

Christine Farrow-Noble

Living in Japan

Nancy Hubert

The Fall of St. Petersburg

Pamela R. Giller

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Joyce Callaghan

Writing and sharing memoirs is a way to get to know people quickly and intimately. Memoir writers open a door to their inner lives that they don’t always open to their close friends and family members. Sharing stories is a path to finding common ground amidst very different backgrounds and experiences. It is the universality of human experience that brings people together. Gifted writers bring forth the personal ties that make one look at another and say, Ah, yes. When this happens on a computer screen, with each person on Zoom in a tile looking at other tiles, rather than in a classroom, unusual interactions can occur. Sometimes, something magical can happen, as this anthology will demonstrate.

The early spring of 2020 brought into our lives a situation that no one could have believed possible: Coronavirus, eventually known as COVID. Life was turned upside down in many arenas, as social connections zoomed into something called Zoom. Tufts Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Medford Campus programs quickly pivoted to a virtual format. A Zoom memoir study group that began in June started with a core group of ambitious memoir writers. It was so successful that it was repeated in July with many of the same participants. And it continued through the fall and winter months. As COVID cases surged, the number of writers grew, and the large group split into two smaller groups, each with a group leader.

As the official Tufts OLLI memoir study groups finished, no one wanted to end our writing relationships. We had met such wonderful people, although none in person. Our connections were firm and heartfelt. We had shared our stories as mothers, fathers, grandparents, great-grandparents, widows, and widowers. We wrote about divorce, the single life, travel, athletic endeavors, career ups and downs, and illness, both physical and mental. We remembered in words our parents, grandparents, quirky relatives, dear friends, and our beloved four-legged family members. We shared through our written words our joys, sorrows, disappointments in ourselves and others, political views, (we were cautious), and what was most often on our minds: COVID and its subsequent isolation. We decided after our study groups ended that we had too much of a good thing going, so we formed a monthly group in April 2021 that was eventually named WARM (Writing and Reading Memoirs). The group started with 23 strong writers, including two facilitators who managed the calendar, the submissions, and the monthly gatherings on Zoom. Two years later we have 19 active members. The friendships forged have grown and flourished.

As many of us in this group developed significant bodies of work, two of our WARM members volunteered to put together an anthology entitled Pages From Our Lives. Each of us has chosen one memoir for inclusion. Some selected a piece because it detailed an important moment in their life; some because it spoke to others about who they are as a person; and others because they felt it was their very best writing sample. In its totality, Pages From Our Lives is intended to tell a story from the perspective of a community of thoughtful, dedicated writers who found friendship, fulfillment, and their muse in the dark days of the pandemic.

Lasting Connections

Tippy, A Love Story

Larry Abramson

I had my doubts about the arrangement, but those of you with children know that…. a say is a promise. Linda and I had said, and therefore promised, that seven-year-old Jenny could get a dog just like her friend’s dog, Mikey. In return, Jenny had to sign a contract with us that described all the ways she would tend to the dog.

Jenny scrutinized the contract, as seven-year-olds are wont to do, signed it, and thereafter ignored it, forever. I succeeded to the role of attendant and next friend to Tippy the Wonder Dog, English Springer Spaniel, Extraordinaire.

Tippy was a ton of fun. This surprised me. I had grown up roughhousing with big dogs: George Smith lll, Belgian Shepherd, about 90 pounds; Flossita J. Hund, German Shepherd, about 80 pounds. Tippy was only 51 pounds but he could play. We would line up at opposite ends of the driveway and charge at each other. At the last second Tippy would take a stutter step, fake one way and run the other. He had all the moves of Gayle Sayres (da Bears, 1965-1971).

Walking Tippy was a joy. It was about a mile around our block. I would ride my bike, and Tippy would run along beside me. Occasionally a rabbit would interrupt the program, but Tippy would soon return. Our biggest delay was garage inspections. Tippy would enter and check out any open garage. One neighbor always left his garage doors open, so Tippy was especially familiar with Don and with his garage.

My friendship with Tippy moved up several notches in 1997. I was now retired, Tippy was ten, Linda’s health was OK, and she was fully independent. I could not always find an available friend for a hike or other adventure, and Tippy became a regular companion. Our favorite trip was to a beach (Wingaersheek, Good Harbor, Singing Beach) between October 1 and April 30 - prime beach days for dogs. Tippy would run along the water, even in the dead of winter. I would then have a shivering dog to deal with. I would dry him with a towel and then put one of my University of Michigan sweatshirts