The front of the holiday card my husband, Frank, and I sent out this year features a photo of us in front of some evergreens. The location where the image was captured is just outside of our apartment building. Full disclosure: The boughs over my head were digitally enhanced to appear fuller than they did in real life.
On the back of the card there’s a photo of our dear, departed dog, Lucy, wrapped up in a blanket. To commemorate Lucy’s death back in July, I wrote a little verse to accompany the pic. The words are meant to be sung to the theme song of The Golden Girls.
In Memory of Lucy “Lucia” McGillicuddy Arce-Thompson, 2010–2023
Thank you for being a dog —
Not a cat, a snake, a mouse, or frog.
Your heart was true;
Then you left and we felt like poo.
If heaven were a party —
With sweets and treats and you and all your crew —
You would see
A squeaky toy from Frank and Zee
And the card attached would say
Nothing 'cause you could not read.
Instead of the evergreen pic, I kind of wanted to use the photo of Dolly Parton and me that was taken immediately after the hands-down highlight of my year (and possibly of my life): when I interviewed the country music legend in the fall for a travel story on Dollywood. But Frank wasn’t in that shot, and our Photoshopping skills, though sufficient for adding pine needles to a composition, stop short of inserting Puerto Ricans into the frame.
I see no reason, however, why I shouldn’t share the Dolly pic with you right now.
After the interview, some handler in the room asked if I wanted a picture and I was like, “Do I ever!”
Dolly scooted over and patted the spot next to her.
“You want me to sit in the same chair?” I said.
“Well, why not?” she said.
Creepily enough, I did take note of how she smelled as we posed. No detectable perfume, just cosmetics.
Naturally, Dolly deserves pride of place on my 2023 sizzle reel. But I wrote other stuff this year, too. Here are some highlights.
Some Stuff I Wrote This Year
TRAVEL
As it happens, all of my most memorable travel writing of 2023 had to do with well-known American women:
- my interview with Dolly Parton at Dollywood (published November 28)
- my account of spending the night—and hunting for ghosts—at Lizzie Borden’s house in Fall River, Massachusetts (published October 5)
- my tour of the recently renovated home of Emily Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts (published March 29)
THEATER
In June, my short play The Needy was published in Exposition Review, a literary journal. The script tackles important subjects like philanthropy and scones.
BLOG POSTS
Here at Indirect Objects, meanwhile, I mused on loss, health, and home décor:
- Eudene the Raccoon (posted October 17): on losing my Gram
- Lucy’s Oldest Toy (posted July 19): on losing my dog
- The Butthole of Sauron (posted April 14): on wanting to lose an ugly whatsit
- Gauze Pads (posted February 10): on almost losing my left nut
Thanks for abiding my nonsense for another year. Happy holidays to you and yours. Here’s to a great 2024.
Indirect Objects 
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