The past few months I've had the oddest memories surface - nothing terribly significant - just quirky memories stuttering through my thoughts.

The other day I paused and thought about my grandfather (mother's father) instructing me on the merits of also eating the peel when eating the flesh of an orange - that the peel held the most important nutrients. I was all of 6 years old or so and thought it sounded terribly gross.

He was the man in my life who also pronounced Carnegie the *correct* way.

My grandfather was a mysterious man but maybe only because I was 6 years old and everything at that age was shaded with delicious hints of mystery. I can remember writing little insignificant notes and slipping them between random pages of random books in our home's Music Room aka Library. Mind you, we lived in a simple Cape Cod, but my mother always, always lived big. God, I miss that marvelous lunatic something fierce some days and wish she was with me now. But reality tramples across those romantic yearnings and screams, "Are you donkey-nose nuts!"

Oh, and about those random notes I wrote and placed in random books? I was certain that someday someone was going to discover them, stare into the distance and say, "Hmmmm, I think I've got an important mystery to solve."


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My grandfather was a powerful man. He was a grocer. He was smart and worked hard and built a mini-empire of stores. He quietly accumulated his wealth - didn't live extravagantly. He loved his dog... a boxer that made lots of smellies and made us laugh a lot.

My grandfather lost my mother's mother to a car accident. His next two wives were taken by cancer. He lost a son to cancer. He lost my mother to schizophrenia, which was tragically undiagnosed.

It wasn't until I was in my 30s (truth) when I realized that most my life was a huge confectionary delusion whipped up by my mother. I believed everything she told me... she was my mother. Consequently, in later years when I didn't believe a word she said, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered one of her stories was true.

At U Mass Medical in Worcester there is a Fortin Foundation.

Mission

The Simeon J. Fortin Charitable Foundation was established in 1986 to promote the advancement of cancer research. The Fortin Charitable Foundation supports cancer research dedicated to discovering a cure.

It's been years since I've read about the foundation, but I believe it grants annual fellowships in the amount of $45,000 - $140,000.


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Well, good heavens. I never intended to zip-line through so many memories.

It all started with an orange peel.


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As always, thanks for stopping by.

Love.