Virginia Buckingham - Marblehead Current

27 Sep

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY: A lifelong desire for fire

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsVirginia Buckingham

We’re just easing into fall so forgive this Christmas imagery. I’m sitting in front of a roaring fire, little kids playing on the floor in matching holiday pajamas. Norman Rockwell has nothing on me when it comes to imagining warm New England scenes. My childhood had plenty of cozy Christmases. But no cozy fire. We thought the public television channel that displayed a crackling fire-log was pretty cool. And it was. I also accepted my mom’s assurance that Santa didn’t have to come down a…

20 Sep

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY: What’s in a name?

Leigh Blander0 CommentsVirginia Buckingham

What name is it under? Uh, try Buckingham? Nope. Try Lowy. Nope. Try Buckingham-Lowy, even though that’s not really my name. Yes, I know that’s what it says on my license. The introduction of the hyphen is a Registry of Motor Vehicles story I’ll tell in a few minutes. Your passport, you say, that’s the definitive answer? The surname on it is Buckingham Lowy. No hyphen. Not my name. Birth certificate – Virginia Beth Buckingham. Used to be my name. Marriage certificate? Virginia Buckingham Lowy.…

11 Sep

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: A majestic memorial

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsViewpoints, Virginia Buckingham

Travel experts advise getting to the airport two hours before a domestic flight, three for an international one. I know it’s a lot to make happen, but on an upcoming trip, consider adding an hour more. There’s a place I’d like you to see at Logan Airport, and I’m guessing most of you have only glimpsed it from the roadway — not due to a lack of interest, but rather the difficult logistics of it all. The bit of extra time you’ll spend is worth…

30 Aug

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Pre-Labor Day musings

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsOpinion, Uncategorized, Virginia Buckingham

We blinked and it’s almost here. Labor Day. Summer didn’t even get started until August, but I’m doing my best to not complain. Note to those to whom I complained, I’m not perfect! Virginia Buckingham Compared to the weather and natural disasters in the rest of the world, I’m feeling pretty lucky. And I’m guessing, like me, you are not in the mood for deep thinking as the end of summer looms. So, here’s my list of random things I’m musing about as I get…

23 Aug

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY: All sentient beings, great and small

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsOpinion, Top Stories, Virginia Buckingham

I’ve officially gone cuckoo. It’s been coming for a while. But the minute I grabbed a plastic cup and a napkin and headed to the garage, it was confirmed. I was off to rescue a spider. Yes, a spider. I’m afraid of spiders. Just like my dad was. A man grown increasingly gentle with the passage of time, my dad loved most creatures, great and small. Except spiders and flies. He could handle a fly swatter as well as his hero Mickey Mantle handled…

16 Aug

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: The stars in my constellation

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsOpinion, Views & Reviews, Virginia Buckingham

One of the best parts of summer is reading. Even if you’re a year-round devourer of books, there’s still something about sitting with no sense of time, in the shade of a tree or with your toes in the sand, and letting a story carry you away. I’m one of the millions who look forward to Elin Hilderbrand’s annual offering of an escape, usually to Nantucket. The author of 29 books, Hilderbrand has announced that it is to be her penultimate, the last — “Swan…

09 Aug

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Whose truth is it anyway?

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsViewpoints, Views & Reviews, Virginia Buckingham

Truth. It’s a loaded word these days. If aliens popped down to our planet — and according to recent congressional testimony they have — they might wonder what all the fuss is about. The truth is the truth, after all, so what’s the issue? And then there’s the new-agey, Oprah-inspired encouragement to “speak your truth.” Some might find it personally empowering to do so. But if it’s only your truth, by definition it’s not the truth. Truth doesn’t actually belong to anyone. It just is.…

02 Aug

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Pay it forward

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsViews & Reviews, Virginia Buckingham

The book, "Pay It Forward," by Catherine Ryan Hyde was first published in 1999. That was before the viral promotion offered by Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, yet that one book and later a movie sparked a worldwide movement based on a simple premise. Instead of repaying a good deed to those who did you the kindness, “pay it forward” by performing good deeds for others. By doing so, Hyde posited, you can change the world. Virginia Buckingham I think I saw the movie but I…

12 Jul

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Out of control

Leigh Blander0 CommentsViews & Reviews, Virginia Buckingham

I do not consider myself a control freak. I have certain little mishegas — Yiddish for silly, er, maybe crazy habits. I can’t tolerate when the front foyer light is left on, I’ll literally drop everything to go turn it off. A kitchen cabinet door left open? That’s akin for me of every fingernail of every child in America scraping a chalkboard. Sometimes to tease me, my kids would leave every cabinet open. Just for laughs. Ha. Ha. Ha.But in general, when things happen outside…

05 Jul

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Making memories it’s OK to forget

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsOpinion, Virginia Buckingham

What memories did you make this past holiday? How long will they stay with you? (“Not long — I don’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning,” I can hear half of you joking. Or maybe that’s just me.) Celebrating the Fourth of July here in what should be designated the nation’s capital of such celebrations (get on that, elected representatives!) made me nostalgic for the Fourths of my childhood. And it got me thinking about why I don’t remember many specifics about those…