Told by Tom, Thomas Joseph HalloranA recorded story
The cottage
Out on the porch in Wellfleet with Emily, July 2026. How we came to the cottage, fifty summers there, and Mike’s last one.
- 53 seconds
- Recorded 12 July 2026
- Between 1958 and 2018
- 3 chapters
Photographs
Of the people in this story
Transcript
Tap any word to hear it from there. The words follow along as the recording plays.
Chapter 1: How we came to the cottage
We're out on the porch. Tell me about the cottage.
We started coming to the cottage in Wellfleet in 1958. I was six. Cathy was nine, and Mike wasn't even walking yet, or maybe just barely. My father rented it for two weeks every August, and then in 1968 he bought it.
Chapter 2: Summers on the Cape
Vovó would come up from Fall River with a whole suitcase full of sweet bread, massa sovada. Bill Sullivan and I fished off the jetty every morning for thirty years. Now it's Ava and Leo running down to the water, and Sophie teaching them to dig for clams.
Chapter 3: Mike’s last summer
What was Uncle Mike's last summer like?
2018. He sat on this porch every evening and watched the sunset. He said it was the best view in Massachusetts and he wasn't going to argue about it.
Transcribed automatically from the recording, so a name or place may be spelled wrong here and there.