At the Library

Today is a good day for me - Ellen suggested that I spend it at the Amherst College Library, and I quickly agreed. There is not much in this world I enjoy more than being in a college library. And I was particularly interested in looking up the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin after reading Frederick Barnes Tolles' very commendatory review of it - of the Yale University ediion of it, that is, edited by Leonard Labaree, et al. I was able very quickly to put my hands on the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the stacks, which FBT reviewed when Volume I appeared. In the Frost Library catalogue, the Autobiography did not appear on the shelves. It was an eBook. If you wanted it as a printed book, you had to go to the Smith college or UMass library. I wanted it as a printed book, so I settled for another edition that was new, and seemed to use the Yale University edition for its text. I didn't start at the beginning, I started at a point at which Franklin is 17 years old and is just moving from Boston to Phiadelphia, looking to enter the printing trade there, and eventually set up his own shop. I read maybe 40 pages or so, and found it very interesing. What was particularly interesting was what he chose to write about. A great deal of it dealt with assessing the character of people he meets, young and old, men and women alike. It becomes clear, after reading a while, that judging character accurately is essential to survival. Who can one trust? Who can one believe? To whom should one loan money? Who is likely to become a true friend? Who should one avoid, no matter how charming they might be? The importance of judging character acccurately is probably why "Poor Richard's Almanac" was so popular. It is a handy guide to character. Just as an example, when Franklin arrives in Philadelphia, he comes to the attention of the governor of Pennsylvania, Gov. Keith. Here is a summary of their relationship: A letter written by the young newcomer (I.e., Franklin) fell into Keith's hands and pleased him so much that he thought such ability ought to be rewarded. He saw Franklin and won his confidence by his smooth and plausible ways, advising him to go to London to improve himself and promising him letters which would aid him to make his way in that great city. They were to be sent on board the ship in which Franklin had taken passage, but the letters failed to appear and Franklin reached London with little cash and no credit. Franklin's story about Keith has given that gentleman a wider fame than any other provincial governor ever had. Yet it is hard to believe that he set out deliberately to send adrift a young man who was likely to be a great credit to the city under his control. It may have been carelessness or forgetfulness on the part of Keith, or he may have promised more than he was able to perform, but, however it was, Keith certainly did not act like an honorable man in this instance. This is particularly interesting because otherwise, Keith had a very good reputation, especially in his managemment of paper currency, and in his relations with indigenous tribes. Franklin also talks about his friends, some of whom are charming and share his literary interests, but waste money on beer and get into trouble. Franklin is quick to admit that he has made a mistake in judgment. It all makes for a very good read.

The 40 volumes of the Yale Universty Edition< of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin , on the shelf in the stacks of the Frost Library, Amherst College.

Volume One of the series. FBT praises the beauty of the volume in his review. That beauty is marred somewhat, I feel, by the stickers the library has stuck onto it.

Franklin's birthplace in Boston.

The title-page of Vol. I.

Amazing!

Something seems to be going on with Savanna that is amazing. She seems to be getting better. She seems to be in less pain. I was quite amazed to arrive yesterday and found her with Ellen and Katie sitting outside! She was wearing a straw sun hat with a big pink flower and looked quite perky. Look at this:

Savanna out in the garden!************************************ She had to come inside not long after I got there, not because she was tired, but because a thunderstorm came up. The CNAs wheeled her in slick as you please, and used a hoyer lift to transfer her from the chair to her bed with no discomfort whatsoever:

Savanna being moved indoors to her bed so easily!************************************** While I was waiting for her to be settled in, I noticed that just outside her door was a little lending library, and some art work. Fisher Home has thought of everything!

Books and art work. *************************** i don't think I've mentioned that Ellen and I went to a funeral service for a staff person at Families First an organization that works with people with cognitive disabilities. Her name was Patricia, or "Trish." We have three members of our congregation who are active in Families First: Katherine Breunig, Emma Davis and Josh. FF has enriched their lives tremendously. We went to sing with Hallowell, which sang three songs at the service: "Farthest Field," "Love Call Me Home," and "Angels Hov'ring 'Round," all standards in our repertoire. The service itself was informal and allowed anyone to speak who wanted to, and many did. Patricia was obviously very much loved, and her death, the circumstances of which were not explained, was tragic. So it was an emotional sevice. The service was held at the Unitarian Church, called the West Village Meeting House, a place that decades ago was almost like a second home for me - the Brattleboro Music Center held many concerts there, I frequently sang there, i often preached there. I was friends of the minister, Peter Denny, and for a while, when I was writing a book, ("The Caring Manager" - it never got published) he lent me his study to use early in the morning because he had writing software on his computer I didn't have (this was 35 years ago! It was before Microsoft "Word" had been created). AS I recall, I got up at five a.m. and biked there! So I used to go there often, but lately I haven't been there at all. I don't think I've been there since COVID started. Anyway, it was nice to be there and see it again, and to sing there.

The West Village Meeting House. At bottom, Bert and Harriet Tepfer (members of Hallowell) are coming out (and I think they are sort of hiding Calvin). For years, Bert Tepfer was my wonderful cardiologist. But he retired. No one like him exists, so I miss him a lot as a cardiologist, but enjoy singing with him.

Taking Pride

Last Sunday, June 25th, was a special day in two ways - (1) it was the last Sunday in Pride Month, celebrated with a special Union Service at the Guilford Community Church, U.C.C., a service which brought together 8 congregations: Guilford, Dummerston; Centre Church, Brattleboro; West Brattleboro; West Dover; Westminster-West (all U.C.C.); the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Brattleboro, and the Brattleboroa Area Jewish Community. Also, the LGBTQ+ org. "Out in the Open" was represented. It was a festive service held under the new pavillion which is part of the Guilford Community Park, which occupies the land around the Guilford Community Church. It was an inaugeral event - the first time the pavillion had been used for a church service. There was a large choir, made up of choir members of several of the churches represented; it sang 4 hymns and 3 anthems. (2) The day was special for me for a second reason: it is the date of my brother's birthday. If he were alive, it would have been his 96th birthday.

Another round

We are back in Shutesbury for another round with Savanna. Everything is easier with her being so much closer to home, but Savanna herself is experiencing bouts of cognitive aphasia. Katie still needs our help and support. And it is good to have someone here for Brendon. So to keep myself occupied, I brought two "projects," one relating to my life and one relating to Frederick B. Tolles, Ellen and Katie's father. I have in the works the printing/publication of a book about FBT titled An Untold Story. See an earlier blog post dated "Monday, June 12th." I would like to add to that book a DVD that would be inside the back cover and would contain copies of FBT's published articles and book reviews, of which there are c. 200 altogether. They are all listed in the book, but I think it would be very nice if the reader could easily read an article or review that interested them. I already have close to 100 articles/reviews on the computer. They need to be organized into folders and indexed. Then I need to decide if I want to take the time to hunt down the ones I am missing. I can find a lot through JSTOR (an academic archive), but as I recall, JSTOR does not include some of the lesser-known Quaker periodicals that FBT published in - I think they are considered "religious," or "denominaional," not "academic." or "scholarly." But anyway, that is a fairly large project. I am going to attach one of FBT's book reviews, a particularly interesting one, I think.

The other praoject involves transcribing a journal I kept back in 1997-1998. Those two years were huge years in my life - the first led up to Shirley's and my retirement from the Guilford Church, and the second includes Shirley's death and its aftermath in my life. Painful reading, but also very pertinent to what is going on right now in my life. It is a pretty big journal - 8 1/2 x 11" in size and pretty thick. So that will be a big project too. I probably will not finish either of these projects this week, but that's okay.

The cover and first paragraph of the 1997-98 journal. **********++++++

A garden sitting area at Fisher Home - very nice. *************************** LATER I returned a few minutes ago from being at the Fisher Home. Most of the time I was sitting in the hall while others were with Savanna. She was having a busy day, and I didn't want to tire her. But at one point, it was just Karen Lederer and me there - Ellen had gone home and Katie and Brian (Karen's husband) had gone out to get something to eat. So I went in and talked with Savanna a bit and then showed her a video of Brendon SInging "My Way" at his graduation ceremony - which she enjoyed seeing and hearing. However, there was one very odd thing - I connected my computer to the TV with an HDMI cable, and Karen "sourced" it on the TV remote, and, sure enough, there was the button-box desk-top picture that I see on my computer screen - so obviously it was picking up a signal from my computer. But even though it was the photo that I use for my desk-top, it was not actually my desk-top. When I played the video of Brendon, the TV continued to display the button-box photo, while I was seeing Brendon on my computer screen. How could that be? After that, Brian brought me home and Ellen and Brendon and I are about to eat supper. BTW, the word "about" was the answer to today's "Wordle" puzzle, and I got it on guess # 2. My first guess was "cares" and so I got a yellow "a" on the first line, and I guessed "about" for my second guess, and that was it! Amazing!

A quiet time

This week has proven to be a quiet one for me. Having Jim and Mary here has been good for me. Today I drove to the Guilford Church for a choir rehearsal for tomorrow's union service which will bring six congregations together, possibly under the new pavillion, weather permitting. This afternoon, I have alternated between exercises, resting and reading. The steel band concert we had talked about going to tonight has been cancelled due to forecasted thunderstorms.

The completed pavillion at GCC*****++++++++++++++++++

Yesterday, the three of us drove to Fisher Home in Amherst to see Savanna. She seemed to be very comfortable and very much herself. That was wonderful to see! The Fisher Home is homey, quiet, seems to have very caring staff. I didn't take a photo of Savanna, but took one of the montage of photos that Krystal created of Savanna's family and friends, which Sav is enjoying. Krystal herself should be in flight to CA as I write, but that is unconfirmed. LATER: Yes, she got the car turned in and is on her way home.

Photo montage. ******************++++

The coming days are uncertain. Jim and Mary return to Maine tomorrow. We'll see what happens next.

A bit of respite

The big change in my life is that I am now home in Vermont and Jim and Mary are here with me. That is very nice for me, and I had a chance to be with John here for a couple of hours of talking on the deck, and that was great. It also makes things less stressful for Ellen, because she does not need to worry about me. Mary fixed a lovely supper, including blueberry pie this evening. Ellen is down in Shutesbury and still spends time with Savanna. Savanna herself seems to be more comfortable and cogent these past few days. She is moving into a Hoapice facility, Fischer House, in Amherst. That will probably happen tomorrow or Friday. She will be much closer to Shutesbury, and in a more intimate setting, so that will simplify Katie's life. We hope that the care there will continue to control her pain well and that she will be reasonably comfortable. Krystal returns the rental car tomorrow, and will fly back to California Saturday. Brendon took placement exams yesterday at Greenfield Community College, and placed out of English. So all in all, things seem to be going as well as could be expeted right now, given the circumstances. A lot of people are helping out in a variety of ways, and that is wonderful and we are very grateful.

A scene from the Fisher Home Hospice website.*********************************** Our toaster/oven died today, so Jim and Mary went out and bought a new one - a Black&Decker, very much like the one it is replacing. Here is a picture of the old one on top of the new one:

Another thing: the mountain laurel is in full bloom. We have two bushes near the house, but the top of the mountain behind the house is covered with it. Wish I could get up there!

Laurel near our house

Juneteenth

Today is a special day in two respects: (1)it is a Federal Holiday commemorating the actual realization of freedom of African-Americans from slavery set in motion by the Emancipation Proclamation, and (2) it is Ellen's and my 18th wedding anniversary. Under the circumstances, we are not doing anything special today to celebrate our anniversary, except that Ellen and I did take a walk together late this morning - that was unusual. But she left shortly after that with Brendon to meet Krystal at the movie mall in Amherst to see The Little Mermaid,and then she and Brendon were going to Baystate to see Savanna. I think Karen and Brian are picking up Brendon and bringing him home, and later, Ellen will come back and the three of us will go up to our home in Dummerston, and Brendon will spend the night there with us. I will stay there, and as I understand it, Jim and Mary will join me there later on Tuesday. I have not been home in Vermont since Thursday morning. There is a good chance that Savanna will be moved to a residential Hospics Home this week. That may make things easier; we'll see. It would be closer than Baystate - that much we know. Meanwhile, I am at the house in Shutesbury alone. I just had a good talk with John. Things have been quiet, otherwise.

The Juneteenth couple **********

Opal Lee, the "grandmother" of Juneteenth. Opal Lee, in her late '80's, walked 1400 miles, from Texas to the White House, to advocate for June 19th to be a federal holiday. Today, she is 96 years old.

A different sort of Sunday

This morning we went to church at First Church, Amherst - Ellen, Brendon and I. It was different from Guilford in some ways, maybe just more conventional. It made us realize that Pastor Elisa has changed things to a degree we hadn't realized, and it is hard to put my finger on just what is different. It was "choir recognition Sunday" at First Church, and the choir sang a lot, and there were several congregational hcymns as well. So that was different in itself, but there was another difference also. Pastor Vickie, the pastor at First Church, speaks a lot more extemporaneously than Pastor Elisa, who reads a great deal from written sources. So maybe that's another difference. In any case, we enjoyed the service. I heard two hymns that were unfamiliar to me: One by John Ferguson, was called, God, you made all things for singing, and the other is called It's a Song of Praise to the Maker, Words by Ruth Duck, Music by Ron Klusmeier. I liked both.

First Church, Amherst, MA.

The 'word for all ages." The story-teller played a video she had made three years ago at the height of the pandemic which spoke eloquently of the purpose of worshipping together.

The First Church Choir.********************************************** After church, we waited for Krystal to come pick up Brendon, but when she didn't show up, we decided. we must have gotten our signals mixed, and went home. Sure enough, she came to the house at 3p.m. to pick up Brendon and take him to the hospital to see "Meme" - i.e., Savanna. Ellen had already left for the hospital by then. When Brendon left, that left me here alone. That was different too. I watched the first episode, Season One, of "Endeavor." Wow, what a great episode. Sort of quintessential "Endeavor." A few minutes after that ended, Katie showed up! She is now taking a nap. Ellen and Brendon will probably show up soon. I just prepared potatoes for roasting and have them in the oven. Soon I will put in some fish sticks. That will be supper.

A treat at Flayvors

Ellen, Brendon and I just got ice cream at the Cook Farm ice cream stand called "Flayvors," which is near the Amhesst Mall, near "Trader Joe's." The "y" comes a prize Holstein named "Fayvor" who is the ancestral source of much of their herd. I had Rum Raisin, and B&E had Peppermint Stick. After our ice cream, we went to "Big Y" supermarket and bought some groceries, came home, I fixed supper for Brendon and myself and Krystal, who joined us here (roast chicken, rice and gravy, and asparagus) and Ellen went back to Bay State to be with Katie and Savanna. Katie will stay in a B&B across from the hospital tonight in the early evening to get some sleep, and Ellen will come back late and we'll spend the night here. The B&B was Karen Lederer's idea and she is paying for it - it saves Katie a round trip between hospital and home (one-hour each way). Savanna seems to have had a much better day today. Ellen thinks that there are big differences between the way the nurses (now called something else - Patient Care Technicians"?) do their work with Savanna - some are much more gentle and don't cause as much pain and discomfort - and that makes a huge difference in how Savanna feels. Some of the best are "persons of color" - Haitians, Filipino, etc.).

Flayvors Ice Cream Stand at Cook Farm

Prize-winning Holstein, "Fayvor," who gave the "Y" to "Flayvor."

Baystate Medical Center entrance.

Baystate Medical Center in its entirety. Ellen says it is a maze inside - it is not easy finding Savanna's room. I don't know which building Savanna is in, but maybe Ellen can figure that out when she sees this photo.

A fluid situation

We are living now in a situation which is very fluid, constantly changing. Last night, we stayed in Shutesbury, got up this morning and drove with Krystal to the Enterprise Rental car agency in Brattleboro where we rented a car for Krystal to use for the next week. She is moving out from the house here, and will be living with her former pastor in S. Deerfield for a week. She says she will fly back home to California next week. After arranging for the car, we went home to our house, repacked, Ellen made some food for supper, and we came back to Shutesbury. Ellen was expecting to find the red Prius here so that she could drive to Bay State Hospital to relieve Katie so that she could come home, have supper, and go to a choral rehearsal at First Church, Amherst. But when we arrived, there was no red Prius. That means Brendon has it somewhere. So Ellen has to drive to Bay State in our car, which means taking it on to the Interstate in fast, heavy traffic, which we have not wanted to do. But there is no choice. So I am here at the house, and I will be putting supper in the oven at 5:00p.m. It has been like this all this week. Some days we have driven home at 11p.m. at night, getting home after midnight. We are managing to "roll with the punches" pretty well. Meanwhile, Savanna has been moved to palliative care at Bay State, but plans are afoot to either move her into a residential Hospice facility nearby, or bring her home. Bringing her home would probably not be possible unless they can do some things that would simplify her care. That remains to be seen. So, that is what I mean by a fluid situation. There are many uncertanties, things don't always go according to plan and we need to be able to make quick changes to accommodate new situations. It will probably be that way until Savanna is settled somewhere. And even then, there will be uncertainties for sure. But maybe not so much hour by hour. *************************** I found this photo on the counter:

Savanna and Brendon, about 17 years ago or so! ************************** LATER Talk about fluid! I got a call a bit ago from Brendon. He was in Greenfield, MA - about a 1/2 hour from here. He said he had turned on the Prius and it had shown a warning that something was wrong with the electrical system, and it was making "funny noises." I suggested that he call Tye, who lives in Greenfield, and she could pick him up, and I would see if I could find someone who is familiar with the Prius (which I am not - at all). About the same time, I had a text from Ellen, who had gotten to the hospital okay, but things had taken a "hard turn" there. I talked with Dusty and Dorothy, Karen and Brian (all friends of K&S), and then heard back from Brendon- he had managed to drive to a very close-by Toyota dealership, Tye was picking him up and would bring him home. The car would be held at Toyota overnight. Meanwhile, since I had no car and Ellen had asked me to do some shopping, I asked Karen and Brian to do it, which they happily did. Meanwhile, things got better with Savanna - I guess she was unresponsive for a while, but then "woke up." K&B delivered the groceries, Tye brought Brendon home and I fed him supper (I ate earlier). Lots of calls and texts, but I guess everything is okay at the moment. Katie gave up on her rehearsal, I guess, and is staying at the hospital tonight. I hope it is a quiet night. I expect to see Ellen later this evening.

An altered reality

My last post, a week ago, I was celebrating the fact that I finally had had a chance to get to the Amherst College Library. A great deal has changed since then. Wednesday morning, Savanna tested positive for COVID. She had been exposed to it through her friend, Dusty, who did not realize she had gotten a rebound case after taking Paxlovid, and did not have symptoms. That meant that Ellen might have been exposed Tuesday afternoon while I was at the Library, but she was sitting with Savanna. It hit Savanna hard and she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, and the next day she was transferred to Bay State in Springfield, MA, and there they discovered a serious infection, not COVID-related, but a complication of her cancer treatment. All of a sudden, Savanna was critically ill, and the doctor was preparing Katie for the possibility that she might not survive the weekend. She was receiving antibiotics - three different ones simultaneously, via IV - but with uncertain outcome. This meant that Ellen and I were needed for support in Shutesbury, for both Katie and Brendon. We tested negative for COVID Thursday, and again Saturday, so we felt we could be with others. We felt fine. So that is where we have been, and we have indeed been helpful, I believe, in a variety of ways, some very practical, some more emotionally and spiritually. I personally have not seen Savanna, but Ellen has, and I get reports. We slept one night in our clothes because we had not come expecting to spend the night. But we have gone home a couple of times since, and now we have bags in the car all packed with essentials just in case. The car is still running - held together still by bungi-cords - and we are using the back way, though we have used I-91 going back home at night and not going over 50mph. I'm just not sure how how high speeds and wind gusts could effect the bumper which is quite loose. So far, so good. We have yet to learn whether the car is fixable or totaled. That is another uncertainty we are living with. I don't know what will happen if we lose Savanna. It is bound to affect our lives significantly and perhaps profoundly. Right now, we are just taking things a day at a time. This past week I have had a fair amount of time by myself at the house in Shutesbury, and I have used it to good effect. I have done a final proofreading of a book I've been working on for years, about Ellen's father, titled An Untold Story: Frederick Barnes Tolles' Unpublished Manuscript About Early American History and the Story Behind It. Her father was contracted to write Vol. I of a 5-volume History of the United States for Alfred A. Knopf. He started to write it, but was unable to finish because of a medical crisis which proved to be disabling. This was back in 1958. He died in 1975, and left behind a 279-page MS which I discovered in the Friends Historical Library in Swarthmore. It is about 1/3 of what he would have ultimately submitted to Knopf, had he been able to do so. There were four other volumes, and four other authors contracted to write them. But the entire series was never published by Knopf. I wondered, "Why?" Why did Knopf not replace Prof. Tolles, pass on his unfinished MS to a new author (which Prof. Tolles offered to do) and eventually publish the entire series? Ellen and I found the answers to that question when we visited the Knopf Publishing Company's archives in Austin, Texas a few years ago. It made a fascinating story, and I wrote it, typed up the entire unfinished MS - four chapters plus a bit of a fifth - managed to deduce a Bibliography of Works Consulted from Prof. Tolles' notes, and topped it off with a detailed chronology of Prof. Tolles'life, including a complete listing of all his published books, articles and book reviews - 200 altogether. It makes a book 300 pages long. I have not yet published that book, because there were minor corrections to be made. I have now mostly made those corrections (I still have to figure out two uncertainties in Prof. Tolles' footnotes) and I can publish it for the family. I also want to give a copy to the Friend's Library at Swarthmore. I plan to have it printed at the Bridgeport National Bindery, in Agawam, MA, where they do very attractive and durable hard-bound copies for a reasonable price. I've had both the Guilford Church history (Safe Thus Far) and the collection of Shirley's children's stories (I Invite the Children to Come Forward) printed there.

Last Christmas at Katie and Savanna's. Savanna is in the red shirt sitting in a blue chair at far right. Ellen is behind her, Katie is standing in an apron to her right, and Brendon is the young man standing in the back row just above and to my left.

Frederick Barnes Tolles, c. 1958.

Finally!

I did something today I have not been able to do for over three years - because of the COVID pandemic - I went to the Amherst College Library, the Robert Frost Library. For quite a while it was closed to anyone not connected to the college. But it is open to the public again and Ellen dropped me off and went on to spend time with Katie and Savanna, and I got a bit over three hours in one of my favroite places on eaerth - the stacks of a good library. I had the place to myself. I had told Katie I would call her at two (1:00p.m. her time), and when we talked, I didn't have to find a private place - there waa not another soul on the entire floor. I was on the third floor of the stacks, where the books on rhe Bible are. I decided to look ahead to what may be my next Bible STudy at the Guilford Church - the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. I thought that after the Gospel of John, it would be a good contrast to take on an OT prophet, and Jeremiah is one of my favorites. I have a lot of notes on Jeremiah in the files, but of course, they are all based on traditional historical criticism, which is what I was trained to do back in the 1960's, and still has something to say, but there is so much more that one needs to be aware of today. And luckily, I found the perfect book in the stacks, titled Prophecy and Power: Jeremiah in Feminist and Post-Colonial Perspective (Bloomsbury, 2013). It is a collection of essays by scholars from all over the world, edited by Carolyn Sharp, who is at Yale Divinity School, and Christi Maier, who is a German scholar, at Marburg, I think. Their introduction to feminist and post-colonial hermeneutics is one of the best I've seen. I photographed that introduction, and also went on line and found three books by Carolyn Sharp at Abe Books, very reasonably priced, so I ordered them. I took note of several other books on Jeremiah as well. Here is the stack:

Books on Jeremiah I took a look at today. ********************** Behind the Frost Library there was a little place where there were some benches, and that is where I waited for Ellen to pick me up at 5:00p.m. To my surprise, there was a large statue there, sort of hidden from the road. I don't know who it is, but it is quite striking.

Bronze statue at Amherst College. I'll do some research and see if I can find out who it is. LATER The figure in the statue is Noah Webster, one of the founders of Amherst College (which I did not know). The statue was erected in 1913. A little more research uncovered a vintage Postcard of this statue, but with a completely different background. Has the statue been moved? Or has the building behind the statue been tcorn down to make room for the Frost Library, which is what is there now?

Vintage Postcard. That looks like a chapel behind the statue of Webster.

A more recent photo of the statue (not mine): you can sort of see the Frost Library behind the trees.

Tamar's graduation.

Sunday afternoon, we drove our rental car back to Northampton to attend Tamar's graduation from Morthampton High School. It was held in a large auditorium on the Smith College campus - John Greene Hall, I believe it was. The whole affair was very different from Brendon's graduation - starting with the size of the graduating class - Brendon's was 4, Tamar's was 236, according to the daily newspaper. But it was not a perfunctory occasion. Tamar sang in two groups, and had several short solos. The principal actually gave a very thoughtful talk, as did the woman chosen as Teacher of the Year, and also the students who spoke - class co-presidents and a young man chosen by his peers. The name of every graduate was read, and they walked across the stage and got their diploma. It took about 45 minutes to do that! We were up in the balcony, in the back row, because we got there too late to find a seat downstairs. It was a long climb up the stairs, but I made it! The stage was a long way away, but we had a good view of it! We got to see Tamar outside before the seniors had gone inside, and afterward we met her, and Julie and Jerry, at a restaurant in Amherst - "Pasta e Basta" - and had a very nice meal - I had Eggplant parmigiana, which I ate about half of and took the rest home for lunch on Monday. It was delicious. It was just a very nice event from beginning to end. And I got some photos:

Ellen, Tamar and me, outside, before the graduation.

The view of the balcony fron our seats - gives you an idea of the size of the hall.

One of Tamar's choral groups -the "Northamptones," I think. They sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" in a very harmonic arrangement, and did it very well.

Tamar's name in the list of graduates, and the program for the graduation ceremony. I learned by seeing this program that Tamar's middle name is "Elizabeth." That is Ellen's mother's name, but it is also the first name of my daughter. The asterisk after Tamar's name means that she is a member of the National Honor Society.

Pasta e Basta restaurant in Amherst.