2026 Life Logs, Day 156: These Truths History Class and Decisions for My Sister
Date: Friday, June 5, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 79, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

This morning I attended the next to the last class based on the book ‘These Truths—A History of the United States’ by Jill LePore. We will get to the 20th century in next week’s last class and then continue in the fall. I didn’t get to do the reading for this week, but I still find it very worthwhile to go to class to hear Jane’s lecture. I will definitely continue next fall.

The rest of my day was spent going to Bridges, the memory care facility where I plan to relocate my sister. This trip was to meet the Director of Wellness. I will return on Monday with all the paperwork filled out. But I have made the decision. Now I just have to figure out how get her here. But for today, I moved on to start the search for new furniture for her. I made a quick visit to the only furniture store in Falmouth and looked at recliners, beds, and chairs. I learned a very important point. With most recliners the back goes down as the feet go up. I need one where the feet go up and back stays upright. Glad I didn’t decide to order something online without trying it out first! There were many other decisions to be made this afternoon and many phone calls, but I am putting that aside for now and heading to bed early.

2026 Life Logs, Day 155: Getting a Case of ‘Cold Feet’
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 72, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Today I had an Indivisible Falmouth meeting and a reception at the Museums on the Green. But for the most part, I did what I seem to be doing every day which is dealing with issues related to my sister. The biggest issue that happened today was that her assessment evaluation happened a day early. This had a number of people confused, and they were all contacting me to ask why this happened. Obviously, not all communications setting up this assessment were read by everyone, but in the end, even though the team at Bridges only got to see her for about 30 seconds, they approved her admittance to Bridges. And that threw me into an instant case of ‘cold feet’. What if I can’t do all of the things needed in time for the move? What if I can’t get new furniture delivered on time? What if I can’t get her on the airplane? What if she hates it here? What if the medical team can’t deal with her issues? This last question stopped me in my tracks because I realized that I really didn’t meet the medical team at Bridges on Monday. I called immediately to tell them that I cannot sign the admittance paperwork until I do meet the team. But what if someone else takes the only room available while I am dragging my feet on signing the papers? This is a huge decision I am making for my sister, so I am having that psychological bout of anxiety people get before making a big commitment. Unfortunately, the woman I have been working with at Bridges is attending her son’s graduation tomorrow and the woman in charge of health is off doing assessments tomorrow and Monday. I will find out in the morning if there is a time tomorrow I can meet her before or after her off campus assessment. If not, everything will just have to remain on hold until next week.

At the very end of the day, I decided to put all of this out of my mind and go watch Ollie’s soccer game. That was a good decision because I could focus on the game and forget about the decisions to be made. I’ll get back to that in the morning.

2026 Life Logs, Day 154: Last Lawrence School Concert for a Goldstone
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Warm; High Temp 78, Low 56 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Tonight was Ollie’s Lawrence School (grades 7 and 8) spring concert, and it was the last Lawrence School concert for a Goldstone. Sam, then Jonah, and now Ollie have attended Lawrence School and played in the concert and jazz band. Next year Jonah will be a senior and Ollie a freshman at Falmouth High School. It is always impossible to get photos of Ollie playing the saxophone in the concert band, but tonight he was third from the end of a row, so while they were warming up, I moved up front so I could actually get a photo of Ollie. Then I went back and had Heather come up so she could video Ollie playing and send it to Jed who is still in Canada. And then afterwards, I got a photo of Heather and Ollie. Tonight was milestone and I wanted to document it.

I spent the rest of my day meeting with the caterer for another milestone—my last event that I will be organizing for Encore. That takes place on June 17 and at that point, I will have completed my duties as Co-President, then Past President, and Program VP. It has been a wonderful experience, but I am looking forward to capturing a bit of my life back. And after my appointment with the caterer, I spent more time dealing with details of moving my sister here. And after that, I went outside to play with Shadow while enjoying the warm weather. I even got motivated to do a deep spring cleaning of the inside of my car. I needed to get outside and do something to keep from being totally overwhelmed with the details of figuring out exactly how I am going to get my sister here from North Carolina. She is not going to want to fly, but after checking train schedules and the cost of a private jet, I think flying on a commercial flight is the only way. I’ll work more on that tomorrow.

2026 Life Logs, Day 153: Heather Named Select Board Chair
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Chilly AM; High Temp 69, Low 50 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The Early Edition of The Falmouth Enterprise came online today (see article below). At last night’s Select Board meeting, Heather was nominated and elected chair by the other four members of the Board. A Select Board Chair is not the same as a mayor, but they both hold the top leadership roles in their communities. Select Boards act collectively as the executive arm in their communities and the Chair runs the meetings and signs documents and probably gets thousands of complaints and the ‘opportunity’ to address those issues. However, the Chair, along with the Vice Chair, set the meeting agendas, and that is a type of power. Falmouth’s Select Board hires a Town Manager and an Assistant Town Manager to deal with the day-to-day issues, but still, as I have observed in Heather’s two years on the Board, it is almost like a second job as it is huge time commitment. As Heather’s very proud mother, I wish her the best in this new venture as Chair.

THE ENTERPRISE Falmouth
Goldstone Named Chairwoman; Reed Vice Chairman
By LIN LIN HUTCHINSON

The Select Board held its first meeting following the Annual Town Election this week and unanimously selected Heather M.H. Goldstone as its new chairwoman.
Goldstone was nominated by board member Colin W. Reed, with the nomination seconded by outgoing chairman Robert P. Mascali. Douglas C. Brown expressed interest in serving as chairman but did not receive a nomination from fellow board members.

In accepting the nomination, Goldstone reflected on her reasons for seeking elected office and the challenges facing the town.

“I ran for office because I saw our town had major issues that we needed to be confronting,” Goldstone said.

She noted that board members identified similar motivations during the town’s strategic planning process and pointed to the board’s achievements.

“We have made a lot of progress in my time on the board in surfacing some issues that are a bit overdue and starting to develop action plans,” she said, citing long-term finances, coastal resilience and housing among the topics receiving the most attention.
Looking ahead, Goldstone said the board will need to work closely with town management to address competing priorities.

“I think we are at a point where we really need to step up and level up how this board is working together as a team,” she said.

Goldstone also highlighted her experience as a facilitator.

“I am a trained and certified facilitative leader,” she said. “That means I’ve spent a bunch of time gaining a skillset to help groups coalesce around a shared vision and work strategically to achieve that.”

Paraphrasing advice she recently received from state Representative David Vieira (R-3rd Barnstable), Goldstone said, “Elections are a competition; governing is a team sport.” She said it is important to recognize that board members bring different strengths and represent different constituencies and life experiences.

2026 Life Logs, Day 152: A Little Joy on June 1
Date: Monday, June 1, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Chilly AM; High Temp 60, Low 43 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

I am taking a huge chance announcing joy on June 1 because the reason for my joy today is not really a done deal. But joy is the only way I can describe how I felt after a two-and-a-half-hour visit at a memory care facility today—not something I ever expected to feel in that setting. If you have been following these logs, you know I am searching for a place that better fits my sister Patsy’s needs as her memory issues worsen. I thought I had found it at Heritage here in Falmouth. The disappointment I felt on Friday when they told me that they could not take her was replaced by joy today when I visited a place that is memory care only. After meeting my sister on FaceTime, Heritage recommended Bridges by Epoch for Patsy. So, I spent my entire day touring and learning about this place.

The goal of Bridges is not just to care for people with memory issues, but to bring some joy back into their lives. The building was designed for people with dementia, down to every little detail. One example is that the wall behind the toilet in each bathroom is painted a dark color so that it is hard to miss the white toilet! I don’t know who thinks of things like this, but someone did a good job when designing Bridges by Epoch. And they have a room that will be available in a few days, but right now the resident is still living in it. He was involved in an activity when I arrived, so the woman giving me the tour contacted his family to get permission for me to go in and see the room. It has a beautiful view of the enclosed garden area which is lovely. By the way, the circular pathway in the garden has solar powered objects that look like rocks but that are really speakers for playing music while the residents are outside.

I still need to fill out a huge packet of forms describing Patsy’s life history and Bridges still needs to do a FaceTime interview with her. I have reserved the room until these things can be done. If all goes well, we can make the move before the end of the month. It is expensive, but not really much more than we pay now with private care. And I really felt like it is a place where Patsy could be content and maybe even feel a little joy.

2026 Life Logs, Day 151: Gardening and a Visit with Marti and Toby
Date: Sunday, May 31, 2026
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Rain Late; High Temp 64, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

The time to plant your garden here on the Cape is traditionally Memorial Day. I didn’t get that done this year. But since it will be June 1 tomorrow, I made a last-ditch attempt to at least get things planted in the month of May. I was mostly successful, but there are a few plants that I still need to get in the ground. I will continue to work on those this week.

Jed is in Canada at a conference all week, so he missed the visit of his mother Marti and his brother Toby this evening. Toby flew from Portland, Oregon, to Marti’s in Washington, DC, on Friday evening so he could drive her to her summer home in Maine. They drove from DC to Falmouth today and will leave in the morning for Boothbay. So, it was a short visit over dinner at Heather’s, but it is always great to see ‘the other grandmother’ and catch up on happenings. The big event for Jed’s family in Boothbay this summer will be the Celebration of Life of Marti’s sister Sue. Mark and I stayed with Sue and John in Cambridge many times while Mark was going through cancer treatment at Mass General. I was very fond of Sue and hope to be able to go to the celebration in August.

2026 Life Logs, Day 150: MassDems Convention
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2026
Weather: Rainy Day, Windy and Cool; High Temp 59, Low 45 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Right now, it is 46 degrees F outside, but it feels like 41 degrees according WeatherUnderground. The swing in the temperature from day to day at this time of year is hard to keep up with. On my coat rack still hangs my winter coat, my spring rain jacket, and puffy vests for the in-between days. It is spring on the Cape, but as I always say at this time of year, I am really ready for some warmer weather.

Today I drove out of the driveway at 5:45 am and I was in Worcester by 7:30 am to be a delegate at the Massachusetts State Democratic Convention. Once I arrived, I still had to park, walk across to the convention center, wait for the doors to open, go through security, and make my way to the part of the Convention Center where Senator Ed Markey was hosting a breakfast. And I was early enough to get a seat!

For those of you not from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey currently serve as our two senators, both progressive Democrats. Like myself, both are on the older end of the spectrum, but both are still going strong. Only Markey is up for re-election. Seth Moulton, a U.S. Representative, is challenging Markey for his seat, and Moulton is a youngster compared to Markey. He is 47 and Markey is 79. And I am absolutely for getting younger people with fresher ideas who are non-establishment into office, but Moulton does not fit that description. He has been in the House for 11 years and certainly his record shows that he has not had nearly the impact that Ed Markey has had in those same 11 years. No truly fresh ideas. Markey’s entire career has been as a Massachusetts State legislator, a U.S. Representative, and since 2013 a U.S. Senator, so naturally he has accomplished more. But in my opinion, Markey’s only negative is his age. However, like Bernie Sanders at 84 and Elizabeth Warren at 76, Markey is principled, a fighter for the people, and unlike Seth Moulton, Markey, Sanders, and Warren do not rely on traditional corporate Political Action Committee (PACs) for funding. That is the big hang up for me with Moulton. So, I was very happy when Ed Markey won the vote today to receive the backing of the Democratic Party.

And I was very happy that this evening when Heather delivered dinner to me. When I arrived home at 5 pm this afternoon, I was greeted by a very wet pet. My neighbor across the street, Andy, took care of Shadow today and he had just played ball with Shadow in his backyard for 40 minutes in the misty rain. So Shadow was wet, but he was happy. I was cold, so I changed into something warmer and went in and sat on the sofa with Shadow. Of course, he got on my lap and that prompted me to get a blanket out to protect me from the wet pet. He immediately climbed onto the blanket on my lap and promptly fell asleep. Andy texted that he had worn him out, but I didn’t think that was possible. But there he was, sleeping like a baby. About that time, I got a text from Heather inviting me over for dinner at 6:30. Wonderful. That gave me an hour to sit and read, without disturbing Shadow. Then the next thing I knew, Heather was knocking on my door with dinner in hand. I had fallen asleep with Shadow and missed the 6:30 dinner. I guess I was exhausted as well. Thank you, Heather, for feeding me!

2026 Life Logs, Day 149: Disappointment
Date: Friday, May 29, 2026
Weather: Some Sun, Some Clouds; High Temp 70, Low 51 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

After weeks of dealing with my sister’s healthcare situation and then working almost full time for the past week trying to find an assisted living situation for her here, I got up this morning assuring myself that I had found the perfect place. I arranged for Heritage at Falmouth to do a face time assessment call with my sister at 3:30 this afternoon and spent the day in anticipation of the result of that meeting. I attended class, met a book club friend in Mashpee Commons for lunch, and then headed home. I got the call from Heritage at 4:30 pm, and it was not what I had hoped for. Heritage is assisted living, not memory care, and in the fact time interview they determined that Patsy’s memory is just too far gone for her to be able to acclimate in a new living situation other than in a dedicated memory care unit. Their recommendation was to do whatever necessary to keep her where she is , and as a second choice to move her here to a dedicated memory care unit. Leaving her where she is certainly does not solve my problem of having to deal, almost daily, with some new issue with the care we are playing for her to receive, but that is just not happening.

I am so sad for my sister and am deeply disappointed. But I will regroup and continue the search on Monday. Heritage made a recommendation for a memory care facility in Mashpee, about 20 minutes away. So, no resolution for now. Just on to the next chapter in this saga.

2026 Life Logs, Day 147: More Deliberations About Moving My Sister to MA
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Weather: Sunny with Some Cloudy Periods; High Temp 68, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA

Today I revisited the two assisted living possibilities here in Falmouth for my sister Patsy. Since I visited Atria on Thursday, the room I looked at has already been taken. The room now available is even smaller than the first one. After the visit, I spent more time gathering feedback on this move. In the afternoon I had an Encore Programs meeting and then visited the second assisted living possibility, this time with my daughter Heather. I really needed another set of eyes and it was very helpful to have Heather along. My sister is not capable of making this decision for herself, so as her legal Healthcare POA, the decision falls to me. And I have to say, I am finding the whole process a bit overwhelming. Deciding which place is best for her, reading through the disclosure of rights and services of both places, figuring out the timing on when and how to make the move, and then finding a new primary care and a glaucoma doctor for her, transferring her health insurance, buying all new furniture, and on and on and on. I’ll get through this, but right now it is all consuming.

I did do one thing for myself today. I went to a Woodwell Climate Conversation on “Healing the Earth from the ground up: How farms can fight climate change.” Two scientists from Woodwell, Ludmila Rattis and José Lucas Safanelli, who both grew up on farms in Brazil, talked about the “hidden power of croplands and how regenerative farming practices that restore soil health can store carbon, strengthen resilience, and protect our planet.” The June conversation will be with a farmer from Martha’s Vineyard, and I hope to attend that one as well. I have always been interested in how we grow our food, and this evening’s conversation helped grow my knowledge.

One last note about food. Yesterday Heather gave me aa batch of lamb’s quarter that she weeded out of her raised beds on the deck. Lamb’s quarter is known as a weed to most people, but it is edible, much like spinach, but with ten times the vitamins and minerals. My mom taught me that in the springtime, fixing a mix of lamb’s quarter and pokeweed leaves gives your body what she called a ‘jumpstart’. So, I went on an excursion through my yard to find some pokeweed. It is just beginning to come up, but I found enough to compliment the lamb’s quarter. Pokeweed leaves have to be double boiled in water to get rid of the toxins, but I have prepared these common weeds to eat for many years. And I will share this spring delicacy with Heather tomorrow.

Lamb’s Quarter                                                                                  Young Pokeweed