Congratulations on your admission to Oak and Ash Academy, one of the most exclusive private academies in North America. You are part of the largest incoming class since our founding in 1763. Although this is a unique opportunity—consider that in any ordinary year, three out of four of you would not have been admitted—it does…
At this point, there is little that will make any difference. I can protest that I am a victim, I was always a victim, the same as everybody. But I don’t ask your forgiveness. I’m writing this to tell you how it happened. That won’t matter, either. It’s the only thing I can do at…
“So I don’t get any say in this?” “In a word, no.” My mother was driving too fast, as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of me. It wasn’t easy to drive too fast in Manhattan’s Upper East Side traffic, but she was managing it.“I thought America was supposed be be the land of…
The problem with authentic, unaltered vintage homes is always in the basement. Walking through the upstairs, Christine and I fell in love. Original shellac finish on the window frames, the glass just starting to show a hint of wave from a hundred years of slow settling. Built-in sideboards and bookshelves and a masonry fireplace. The…
To be honest, it was all about delay. Maura was going to Rhode Island School of Design, there had never been any question of that. Goodie still wasn’t sure he wanted to go to University of Boston, but he was. Arnie was going to M. I. T., and I was taking my gap year. As my…