Nantucket Sleighride

"That's the thing about childhood memories--sometimes you only have a smidgen of the whole, no ending to the scene or an accompanying emotion. While other memories are more vivid, there's always the possibility for a blip, a misfired synapse. This may blur the accuracy, but it doesn't change what enters the body and remains without notice. That is, until an incident jostles you." From childhood until my early twenties, my 7' 2" tall uncle had an overbearing presence in my life. I had to help him in the garage, crew for him in sailboat races, and as a young adult work for him at boat shows. Many of these experiences were unbearable, due to his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personalities and ferocious temper. Nantucket Sleighride is spliced with perseverance, insight, adventure and beauty. Beginning when I am living with my black Labrador, Glory, in a rundown farmhouse in Maine, the story jumps back to childhood, the watery and nautical backdrop of summers spent on Cape Cod and continues forward in time. Scenes unfold with my uncle, family, boarding school days, a lesbian debutante in the 1960s, lovers, unfulfilling work, alcoholism, recovery and more. The memoir comes full circle to when, in my mid forties, I decide to take a year off and move to Maine. There the lack of distraction and the veiled power of isolation pry me open and break me down. I experience intermittent and disabling bouts of terror during the daytime, and horrific nightmares. With the love of Glory, my horse, Frankie, a beloved therapist, and my will and tenacity to change--I begin to reclaim my life"--Author's website