In 1994, single in Chicago again after just giving back my wedding engagement ring, I did everything I could to keep busy.

I volunteered as a docent at the Clarke-Ford House. Built in 1836, it is the oldest house in Chicago. The Georgian-style mansion is one of the best examples of mid-19th-century Manifest Destiny.

For me, Clarke House was a transitional haven. In a house museum, daydreams of the past can replace worries about the future. Imaginations of life long ago can push away tears and heartaches. I felt less alone, telling other history lovers about the floor-to-ceiling triple-hung windows in the parlor and the cupola on the roof.

In October that year, Edgar Allan Poe interpreter Page Hearn, a Baltimore native, came to Clarke House. What better setting to celebrate the writings

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