On March 16, 2021, Bob Felleman and Rich Burger interviewed my husband Rodger and me for a program called Positively Beech Street. They are both active at the Belmont Senior Center, and over the last several years have done interviews with seniors living in Belmont through the Belmont Media Center.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, these interviews have been held virtually rather than live at the senior center. I think viewing the video below is a lively way to introduce visitors to my site to our lives over 44 years living in Belmont.

Our first  overnight trip since pandemic travel restrictions were eased was to East Falmouth on Cape Cod. There we joined my sister Diana, Mark, our nephew Toby and his daughter Channing for an early celebration of her 5th Birthday. The weather was overcast but we found plenty to keep us occupied. After a swim in a local pond, we had a delicious dinner of steak, corn on the cob and potato before enjoying an ice-cream cake. Channing is an affectionate and lively young girl with a propensity to beat me at the game “Go Fish!" Because she and her parents live in Tucson, AZ, this was only the third time Rodger and I had seen her since she was born. We want to change that in the near future.

Ruby Kingston

March 20, 2002-August 7, 2021

On Saturday, August 7, Ruby’s life came to a peaceful end after more that 18 years as a member of the Rodger and Carolyn Kingston family in Belmont. She was adopted in March of 2003 as a one-year-old grey tiger with white vest, mittens and boots from Angell Memorial Animal shelter in Boston. She was small (9 pounds) with a strong independent streak, so that visitors thought her shy. With her people parents she was not shy, engaging in rough-house play, games of lightnin’ bug, tearing around the apartment after a laser pointer, and jumping up on the arms of a chair for “play station.” That was her favorite place to be petted.

Strangely she never purred, but in her last year took up howling. Maybe this was a kind of revenge for the years she endured listening to Carolyn’s voice students.

Her reluctance to purr lead to a short story written about her by Carolyn and Rodger: Ruby Finds Her Purr. Not many felines can claim to be the subject of such creative expression.

She loved the bathtub. Her favorite pastime, even in her last year, was to jump in and lick up all the water drops after we showered. She would sit on the bathmat waiting for her turn to get in and do her thing . She didn’t mind being a little damp.

Her feistiness came out most strongly during visits to the vet. Fortunately Dr. Binder likes feisty cats and was prepared to deal with a spinning blur of claws and fur.

Ruby had a happy and loving life, and she is sorely missed by Carolyn and Rodger.