A going-away party and some tough issues around town
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will be preparing for a family party, this time a going away party for child No. 3, who is coming close…
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Here comes summer, beginning with farmers market
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary will have celebrated a birthday and will have received birthday greetings in-person, via Facebook, and, of course, from the family, texts with confetti…
Testing negative, a good thing in a tragic week
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have gotten through our bout with COVID-19. On Saturday evening we both took rapid tests and tested negative, which is…
A family birthday party — the first of the summer, perhaps — and rising temperatures
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have celebrated the oldest’s 38th birthday along with family and friends, a party which will be interrupted by rain, but…
Happy Mother’s Day greetings–via texts and phone–and a visit from one of the kids and companion, Quinn
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the Happy Mother’s Day greeting will be appearing on the family text thread along with some photos and emojis, and there are just a…
Yard work and a stop at the bakery; repairs underway
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have admired—well, not admired, but commented on our lawn, spotted as it is with wild onion plants—on our way to…
Time for yardwork, a little hoop and a family celebration
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary will have started working a bit in the yard, but the weather is still not ideal—better but not what one might expect this…
Some ricotta cookies from a friend’s recipe, Easter with the kids and other connections among us
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Easter Sunday at the Fortier household, we will have gone to Mass at 8 a.m. and then hit the road for our Easter dinner…
One more time to Hartford Stage for another gem, this time from Neil Simon starring Marsha Mason
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have attended another Hartford Stage production, this time Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, starring Marsha Mason, who also co-directed. She…
Learning as we grow about how to go about it and keeping our focus–local news
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the week will have wound up with me watching a couple of NCAA basketball games, two women’s games (UConn) and two men’s (Duke and…
No better time to support TBE than now
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, TBE will have finally set up our links for readers to support our efforts. On our website, there is a green box with the…
BCHS Rams take state championship, a former Ram is celebrated and a challenging listening assignment
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, our Bristol Central Rams boys basketball team will have capped a tremendous season by beating the Northwest Catholic Lions in the Division II state…
More family time while keeping what is happening in Ukraine in mind
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the clocks will have been turned ahead an hour and I will have stopped ranting about why, “Why do we need to play around…
Tough times for Ukrainians, prayers and the everyday — all of a piece
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the war in Ukraine will have reached its 11th day and I will have started to moderate my exposure to the news, taking in…
Another grandbaby birthday, some upcoming meetings and more plans
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the second of three grandkids will have turned two years old, and enjoyed the big day as only a two-year-old might–pushing through, fighting that…
Snow squalls and TBE future plans
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the temperature will have dipped again to a balmy 18 degrees, with the windchill an even balmier 9 degrees, becoming one of those mornings…
A visit from grandbaby, viewing the Winter Olympics and a council reversal
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, we will have had a visit from one of the kids and grandbaby. That was on Wednesday, and Mary will have had returned the…
An old-time movie, a Board of Ed resolution and a second chance for Wheeler Clinic, perhaps
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have decided to sleep in after a babysitting stint Saturday night so the parents might get out for a belated…
Another storm, a couple of losses and a good conversation begins
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the storm will have passed, and it will have turned out we did okay, unlike some other areas of the state and further up…
Some venting, a new letters policy and a book on the working-class
By David Fortier Come Sunday morning, the ice is still with us, sort of. It is definitely in the air, but it is also there underfoot, in patches, so that when I…