Letter To Nana, From San Francisco.

The last letter I wrote to Nana, in February 2020, which turned out to be a year before her death in February 2021 at 93. I decided to post this after stumbling on this letter, and seeing how much it captured of our lives just four months after Mum died in October 2019. Time moves along. --- Hi Nana, I have been meaning to write. A sunny, fresh Sunday morning in San Francisco. Another weekend in town for me, as I try to find a slower tempo in 2020. I took this picture of an Orchid that I was given at a dinner last night - we enjoyed leftovers from a Chinese New Year's party, including the orchids. This gorgeous…

On Writing A Good Thank You Note

The Thank You note was a January ritual for Pete, Keara and I. A January ritual because I was always late in getting started during the fun days after Christmas, before New Year. Sigh. And so it was funny to read, in The Art of The Handwritten Note: A Guide To Reclaiming Civilized Communication, that the Thank You note should be written within a week. And the In Sympathy note within a month! This short book by Margaret Shepherd includes gems of guidance on how to write Thank You notes. Delve in and you’ll find practical and unique advice. From when and when not to send, to the social and psychological aspects as to why handwritten notes are so powerful,…

Letter from Donegal, To Those That Would Have Been At Mum’s Funeral If You Could…

Friends, We wanted to write, to you that would have wanted to be with us in Donegal for Mum’s wake and funeral but could not make it. While the darkest days of our lives, the two days from Mum’s last breaths to laying her to rest had beautiful moments and poignant reminders of the arc of Mum’s life. I got

Pete’s Diary Entry From Mum’s Last Day

On Sun, Oct 20, 2019 at 10:13 PM Pete Brennan <oneearthphotography@gmail.com> wrote: Hi folks, Deep in the land of peace, relaxation, great rugby with a yearning for kareoke bars in the days to come ! Here is a copy of my diary entry from mum s last day. Love you all. Pete -- Well today was the day, unexpected, unplanned and gone too soon. Mum, dad and i had a tough night last night, mum restless, uncomfortable, i went into mum s bedroom 6 times throughout the night, helping with turns, commode visits with the new hoist. we started mum off on oral morphine , gave two small doses 6 hrs apart, effective in relieving discomfort. Mum asking for dr…

Letter from Donegal, The Saddest Update, 10 October 2019.

Friends, The saddest update to share, after Mum’s wrestle with cancer this summer. Mum passed away at home with us yesterday at 3.20pm yesterday. Finally, at peace. She had turned 70 on Sunday – which we celebrated together with her – and whispered to Dad that she never thought she’d make it. The last

Letter from Donegal, 15 September 2019.

Hey guys, I’ve been meaning to write, just a short update, after hard news for us again at the end of August. And, I jumped on a plane back home too. Just before Memorial Day, we got the results of the investigations and MRI for second and third opinions of Mum’s stage IV colorectal cancer. It was heart-

Letter from Donegal, 15 August 2019.

Hey guys, you posse of special friends… Jotting from flight back to San Francisco, Donegal via Dublin…and twenty minutes in Reykjavík…It was so good to be home and have 10 days with Mum and Dad, in this gritty new reality for us that has broken in the last two months. Mum and Dad came all the way down to

On Learning of Mum Having Cancer

For thirty two days now, I have been waking up with one vision in my head. One word. “Mum”. A dawn dawning that life is starkly altered, everything is different. And then I’ll forget, flowing into the chores of the day. And then I’ll remember. And it starts all over again. “Is this really true…?” On Tuesday 11th

Like a Law of Nature, Money Defines Us

“What do you think is different about the two families?”, my best friend asked the table. We were at a 'wash-up' dinner, the day after a wedding back in 2019, all stewing in hangover. The bride’s Dad was on my right, the bride floating around the room out of earshot. Like mine, the family was Irish and the first generation out of Ireland from two huge families. On the surface, the question was provoked by how the ‘vibe’ of two families felt different at a party. Both of similar middle-class means. But one family was open and flowing in the spirit of the night, regularly at the bar buying each other drinks. The other, not so. And my friend was…

Reflection on Family Time in an Art Gallery

Art. And a family. An excursion in my city. Just one of us missing, on a last day of traveling and celebrating together. “Geograph-ied” apart and last hours together. As rich as first hours, but with a different weight in the air. Enough time but never enough, in a tapestry of feelings and inspiration and

Wine Country Recommendations

When I am describing San Francisco to friends, I'll remind that within an hour we have a landscape somewhat akin to Tuscany. Especially during when the city is shrouded in early summer fogs, you can slingshot over the Golden Gate bridge and leave the seasonal grey blanket behind as you speed towards Napa and Sonoma and lesser-known gems like Healdsburg and the Anderson Valley. I was lucky in my early days in San Francisco to fall into the arms of three surfers. Don and John knew each other from Marina drinking days, and John met Seth on a plane. The wives fell in love inflight too, it seems, and around the same time I was lucky to meet John Brown…

Dawn Magic

I pulled up alongside the ocean, driving eyes easing right. The sky cracking open for business. This purple swathe of watercolors, yawning out of the black pencil line of horizon. So good to see John Brown again. Mid-life men like kids on Christmas morning. Except the anticipation of unwrapping the