By the Rev. Heather Blais for the Greenfield Recorder

I sometimes wonder if mothering might be another word for longing, and an aching longing at that. Those who long to become mothers may wait for what feels like an eternity to become pregnant, enduring miscarriages, IVF cycles, and a wide variety of uncomfortable procedures. Those navigating the road to adoption endure the fear of rejection or of an adoption never coming together. Both routes may involve taking on a serious financial burden.
Yet the longing of motherhood is like a longing for oxygen when we are out of breath. When babies are born, and grow into little ones, we navigate sleepless nights, projectile vomiting and an incessant worry that we are screwing up these innocent creatures by our own limitations and brokenness. We promise to pay for a lifetime of therapy. We long for good sleep, we long for our children’s health and we long for them to have the best possible lives.

As these children grow into teenagers and young adults, we long to keep them safe from harm like when they were little, but it becomes increasingly difficult. They launch out in the world becoming drivers, going to parties, dating, heading off to college, and moving into their own apartments. We use Find My Friends to check on them, because their responses to texts or calls are erratic at best. We know abstractly they are going to be fine, and yet we long to see for ourselves they are definitively fine.

When they reach adulthood, there is more distance, and the aching longing shifts once more. We love them more each day than the last, yet at the same time we have less say, less control, less influence. All we can do is love them, pray for them, and trust God is with them. When they do call or come home our hearts are ready to burst with the joy that is a momentary balm to our longing. We want to capture those moments and keep them forever.

These creatures whom we love beyond any measure. Impossibly and irritatingly so. Even as they become difficult, distant, or bossy. Even as we have to watch them make mistakes or suffer from the sidelines. Worst of all, sometimes we outlive our children which creates a longing ache that God alone can understand, as our Mothering God lost her son too.
Relationships between mothers and children can be complicated. Pain or harm may have been done, a lack of seeing our child for their authentic self, or a mother’s lack of wellness may lead to estrangement. Sometimes this longing is for what could have been between mother and child.

Sometimes the mothering figures in our lives may not have been our mothers, but an aunt, or a grandmother, a friend’s mom, or a teacher. Yet these mothering figures care for us and help us to be our best selves. They long for our wellbeing.

Even as mothering is a longing ache that consumes us, in the thick of parenting we might experience a different kind of longing. A longing for a shower, for 5 minutes of peace and quiet, for our children to do as asked instead of needing to be reminded 5,000 times. We may long to not resent our children for the paths not taken, or for feeling invisible, or for losing ourselves in this role.

Whatever forms of longing ache motherhood is to us at this season in our lives, we can trust that our Mothering God understands our experience deeply. We can know in our heart of hearts, we are not alone, and that our Mothering God is with us.

In scripture we see God described as a mother eagle guiding her young in Deuteronomy (32:10-11); as a fierce mother bear in Hosea (13:8); and in Luke’s Gospel, we hear Christ’s longing to gather her brood under her protective wings like a mother hen (13:34).

I take great comfort in these images of God as a mother eagle or bear, and Christ as our mother hen. It embodies the love I experienced from my own mother and the other mothering figures in my life. These descriptions of God emulate the care, love, and protectiveness I feel for my own children. I want to swoop in like a mother eagle, to roar at those who mean them harm, and to hide them under my wings to protect them from the harms of a broken and hurting world.

As we remember the mothering figures in our lives, let us give thanks for the women who birthed, raised, and supported us throughout our lives. May we honor the sacrifices they made to ensure we would thrive. Most of all, may we remember this is how intensely our Mothering God loves us. An overwhelming kind of love that will stop at nothing to give us our very best chance.

The Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew in Greenfield is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts. We believe that God is calling us to cultivate a community of love, joy, hope and healing. Jesus is our model for a life of faith, compassion, hospitality and service. We strive to be affirming and accessible, welcoming and inclusive; we seek to promote reconciliation, exercise responsible stewardship, and embrace ancient traditions for modern lives. All are invited and welcomed. We offer hybrid worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. | 8 Church St, Greenfield | 413-773 3925 | www.saintsjamesandandrew.org

GREENFIELD — A play that examines the lives of everyday people in Greenfield and Deerfield during the American Revolution will be read on Sunday, April 19 — 251 years to the date after the Battle of Lexington and Concord — and again on Sunday, May 3.

The play, titled “Revolution in the Valley: A Tale of Two Towns,” “takes [the audience] from April 19, 1775, to [the] years beyond the revolution as our towns were recovering,” according to playwright Kay Lyons. While there is some historical fiction intertwined into the story, most of the play consists of real history and real events.

The first reading of the play this Sunday at 2 p.m. will take place at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew at 8 Church St. in Greenfield, and the second reading on May 3 will take place at the First Church of Deerfield (also known as the Brick Church) at 71 Old Main St., also at 2 p.m. The choice of venues comes because “churches in those days were the meetinghouses,” Lyons said.

Lyons, a retired children’s librarian in Greenfield who studied theater in college, said she hopes attendees walk away from the readings having learned something. She said that when people look back on the American Revolution, they often think that it was a black-and-white, good-versus-evil conflict, but she argues “it just was not that straightforward.”

Greenfield was a supply hub during the American Revolution, and Lyons explained that both Greenfield and Deerfield were microcosms of the conflicting views of English settlers on the brink of revolution.

The cast is made up of members of the congregation of the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, and the congregation of the First Church of Deerfield, as well as friends of Lyons who have collaborated with her on theater productions in the past.

Carol Aleman of the Historical Society of Greenfield was the first person to approach Lyons. Aleman provided some information from “Willard’s History of Greenfield,” penned by Greenfield resident David Willard in 1838, and Lyons “basically took it away from there,” doing a lot of the brunt work of compiling the history of the two towns.

“[Lyons] has woven the story a bit so that there is humor in it. There’s a lot of action that you might imagine,” Aleman said. “Because we’ve trusted [Lyons] with this kind of thing before, I knew I could trust her again to come up with something that would be lively and yet resonate with the audience.”

As this is a play reading, most of the cast members remain stationary throughout the performance, with very few props and movements. There is music, including a choir, cello and recorder. There are some topical props, such as “an old-school pulpit” that a character comes down from, according to Reynolds Whalen, who is playing the role of Willard. “Willard’s History of Greenfield” guides the narration of the play, Lyons said.

Whalen noted “it’s kind of interesting to think that the people in the play could’ve been in [the Greenfield church], or at least their direct decadents.”

These play readings are in addition to the Historical Society of Greenfield’s regular speaker series, with four additional events being held beginning in May.

Upon seeing the play readings, Lyons feels audience members may come away feeling like times then, in 1775, are a lot like the times now.
“Just like now, [they were] kind of in [their] own bubble,” she explained. “They [still] did have to live together.”

by Johnny Depin April 16, 2026 for the Greenfield Recorder

GREENFIELD — The next Bach’s Lunch concert at the Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, 8 Church St., will take place on Wednesday, March 11, at 12:15 p.m.
The program will be performed by soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine, pianist Steven Beck and hornist Josh Michal, and will feature works by Paul Dukas (1865-1935) and contemporary composers Carrie Magin (Between Us Now) and Gina Gillie (To the Seasons).
The concert is free. Attendees can bring their own lunch to eat during the concert.
Guarrine, who serves as associate professor of voice at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is often seen in concert, as a collaborator at chamber music festivals and in recital. Her diverse performance repertoire ranges from the masterworks of Bach, Handel and Mozart to modern works such as the roles of Xanthe/Aphrodite in Mark Adamo’s “Lysistrata” and Maria Celeste in Philip Glass’ “Galileo Galilei.” Guarrine’s debut album, “Transparent Boundaries: Songs Set to the Words of Dickinson, Whitman & Emerson,” with newly commissioned works by Lori Laitman, Daron Hagen and Scott Gendel, debuted in 2020 and was featured in numerous publications, including Gramophone Magazine.
Beck, a graduate of The Juilliard School, is a Steinway Artist who is on the faculty at UMass Amherst and the Sewanee Music Center. He also teaches orchestral piano at Juilliard. Beck is an experienced performer of new music who premiered works by Charles Wuorinen and Fred Lerdahl, and made a complete recording of George Walker’s piano sonatas. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress, and as an orchestral musician, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet Orchestra and Orpheus.
Michal is associate professor of horn at UMass Amherst, a founding member of the UMass faculty ensemble called Bandwidth, and a member of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra. He has also served on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Camp and Greenwood Music Camp. An advocate for new music, Michal has commissioned and recorded numerous works for horn. Forthcoming albums feature new solo and chamber works, including a recording of “Four Poems of Devotion” by Joseph Summer.

by Anthony Cammalleri                                                                 February 16, 2026

​Greenfield Recorder

GREENFIELD — The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) recently reviewed two funding applications — Rural Development, Inc’s (RDI) $150,000 request to build housing at 176 Main St. and the Church of Saints James & Andrew’s ask of $68,126 to renovate and repair its parish hall.

The state’s Community Preservation Act allows municipalities to adopt a property tax surcharge of up to 3%, the revenues from which are matched by state funds. Greenfield joined the CPA in 2020 with a local surcharge, allowing the city to receive state-matched funding for projects and initiatives related to housing, historic preservation, open space conservation and outdoor recreation.

This year, the committee received $666,456 in requests through 11 applications. With $262,200 in CPA funds at its disposal, the committee will decide which projects to fund, and forward its recommendations to City Council in March.

Of the 11 applications, RDI’s $150,000 request to create 32 new housing units for families of mixed income is the largest this year.

The proposal seeks to convert the existing single-story building into a new four-story building containing 24 units with residential community space on the first floor facing Main Street. In back of the building, RDI seeks to convert its parking lot into eight townhomes with landscaping and an outdoor play area, according to the application.

As the housing project comes at an estimated $24,096,892 total cost, Rural Development Housing Development Director Alyssa Larose explained at a presentation to the CPC last week that the project is likely to be awarded $850,000 in state grant funding through the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and has received letters of interest for loans from Greenfield Savings Bank, Greenfield Cooperative Bank and MassHousing Partnership.

Two years ago, the CPC awarded RDI $50,000 in funding for pre-development and feasibility work.

CPC Chair Susan Worgaftik, noting the particularly large financial ask for the proposal, asked Larose whether RDI would be able to continue with partial funding. In response, LaRose explained that the funding would go a long way toward showing the state that the city is supportive of the project.
“Bringing more people living directly downtown is going to be a real boost to the businesses downtown,” Larose said before the CPC. “We definitely have gaps that we’re trying to fill, so every little bit makes a difference … we’re committed to this project, we’ll try to make it work any way that we can, but we’re also trying to fill those funding gaps.”

With about 75% of the project’s design phase complete, LaRose said she hoped to find ways to cut costs in the remaining work. She noted that the additional funding requested by the CPA would mainly go toward completion of the pre-development planning.

Larose added that although some of the project’s largest funding sources have not fully committed funds yet, RDI remains confident that the state funding will be approved.

Peter Graham, who serves on RDI’s Real Estate Development Committee, echoed Larose’s remarks, explaining that the project’s primary source for pre-development funds has been the state’s Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), which he said would likely not continue to finance the project’s planning unless it believed it would see a return on investment.

“CEDAC is essentially a big part of the state’s gatekeeper for projects. They literally wouldn’t keep giving us money if they weren’t going to get paid back by the state funding this,” Graham said. “By the time you get to where we are, the project has been vetted by all the powers that be at the state, and they basically look at it as having legs.”

The CPC application states that one of the project’s main priorities will be accessibility, as all 32 units will be visitable [wheelchair accessible], four units will be fully accessible to those with disabilities and one unit will be designed for residents with sensory impairments.

“These are required by the state for the funding. Some of the things that we’re doing are required by code, but more often than not, everything we do is six times what is required,” Graham said. “It’s also an opportunity — housing stock in our nation and in our community is very old, so there lacks, generally, visitable apartment buildings for those who wish to age in place or for those with any kind of mobility impairments.”

Church of Saints James & Andrew

The Episcopal Church of Saints James & Andrew located at 8 Church St. has requested $68,126 that, if approved, will be used to restore the structure’s exteriors, including repairing and repainting its stucco plaster, replacing trim, and replacing windows and doors.

Presenting the funding request before the CPC, St. Andrew’s Guild member Diane Kurkulonis explained that after learning it was in a historic district, the church leadership aimed to be a “good steward” to the building’s historic character.

Kurkulonis explained that when high winds damaged the church’s roof last year, the costly repairs revealed needed work to the building’s ceilings.
“As a result of the construction that had to be done, our beautiful horsehair plaster ceiling on the inside began to fall. We didn’t know that he had that historical ceiling, so that’s another expense that we’ve incurred as being a historic building of more than 200 years old,” Kurkulonis said. “This exterior repair funding would really help us … we’re faced with an elderly building [that] requires a lot of upkeep.”

When CPC member Jack Redman asked whether the church had alternative funding sources for the necessary renovations, should material costs increase after CPA funding is approved, Rev. Heather Blais explained that the church itself would fill the funding gap.

“We’ve been earmarking certain amounts aside for deferred maintenance and upkeep,” Blais said. “Part of why Diane moved forward with this application on our behalf was to help us supplement dipping into our own funds while we try to support a large campus.”
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The CPC will meet to hear its final round of CPC presentations on Thursday, Feb. 26, before it meets again on March 19 to vote on which projects to recommend to City Council.

Greenfield Recorder Obituaries

Edward Joseph Jackowski, 69, of Greenfield died Feb 4, 2026, in Worcester due to complications of myxedema coma.
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He was born in Detroit, Michigan on Aug 3, 1956, to Marion (Mantyk) and Edward Jackowski.

He graduated with a degree in Electronic Engineering from RETS Electronic Schools in 1976, then moved to Massachusetts in 1977, where he worked for Hybrid Systems, Hybrid Components, Sertech Labs, and MetLife. He then moved to Arizona, where he worked at the ASU bookstore and met Alison Morris, whom he married in 1995.

He is predeceased by his parents, his sisters Rosemary and Laura, and his brother Gerald.

He is survived by his widow Alison and their daughters Margaret and Anna, his brother-in-law Mike Morris (Colleen) and their daughters Marielle (Daniel) and Catherine (Adam), his brother-in-law Chris Morris, his sister Laura’s children Roxanne and Mark, and many more cousins in Michigan.
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Services will be held in the Chapel at Saints James and Andrew Episcopal Church in Greenfield on March 2, 2026 at 11 am.

Click here to sign the guest book or honor their memory with flowers, donations, or other heartfelt tributes