Meet Ellen.
Momma or Nana. Primarily focused on family, food, music and community.
As the first daughter and the seventh of ten children, I’m comfortable in the chaos of daily living. Raised in a boisterous, uninhibited and loving Irish Catholic family in Portland, Maine. They taught me through hardship balanced by indulgence to love music, cook food and share with you have with others. Equal parts of deep laughter and real tragedy, I learned to pay attention to what’s important, develop meaningful values and strive to live closely to them regardless of what other people think. This life is all an experiment, one day at a time.
Blog
What’s the Deal with the Hootenanny?
It’s my 59th birthday on June 28th. What 59 means to me…. My brother Michael died five weeks before his 59th birthday. I am living the life he did not have the chance to live. Michael called me from a hospital bed mid-summer 2015. Not to tell me he was sick- but to let me know…
What I’ve Learned With DOG as my Co-Pilot
Almost one year ago Cosmo was diagnosed with cancer. A diagnosis that was not immediately terminal, but likely metastatic and over time would consume him. The treatment offered at the time was amputation. Cosmo had just turned thirteen. On that cold pandemic heightened day, my hope was that Cosmo would live until the girls got…
Falling into Autumn
Today is my brother Mark’s 65th birthday. It seems quite impossible that he died almost 35 years ago. For many years identifying with the pain of my past propelled me forward. A reckoning with tendencies toward pathological optimism bordering on delusion, and the reality of a painful and often traumatic childhood. I am not alone in…
America the Beautiful
I am not one to watch television or consume much digital media. As reported by my Iphone, Last week’s total screen time was 2 hours and 14 minutes. I spent the day yesterday glued to live coverage of the inauguration of the 46th President and Vice President of the United States the honorable Joe Biden…