Abigail

Excuse Parkville's John Marquette for being tired this past Saturday. His game against Baltimore County rival Milford Mill had come at the end of a long 24 hours. Not only had the first-year coach been denied a victory in his final regular-season game - a 20-10 loss to the 4A-3A league rival Millers (7-3) - but the setback had come after having been denied all but "about an hour" of sleep the night before thanks to his newborn daughter, Abigail McGinnis. Marquette said he "had been watching game film and changing diapers" since his wife, Dana Marquette, gave birth to 7-pound, 15-ounce Abigail at St. Joseph's Hospital on Election Day. In the aftermath of Abigail's arrival at 1:33 p.m., neither her mother, a Democrat, nor her father, a Republican, got a chance to vote.

On April 24, 2004, ABIGAIL E. (nee Davis); beloved wife of the late John J. Higgins, Sr.; devoted mother of Martin J. Higgins and his wife Mary and John J. Higgins, Jr. and his wife Bonnie; loving grandmother of Valerie Pedone, Dianna and Ryan Higgins; cherished great-grandmother of Maggie, Sam, and Cora. Also survived by other relatives and friends. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church on Saturday, May 8 at 10:30 A.M. Interment private. Please omit flowers.

On March 1, 2004 HELEN M. BARTOSZ (nee Kapinos); beloved wife of the late Adam Bartosz; devoted mother of Donald Bartosz and Joyce Reese; mother-in-law of Barbara A. Bartosz and William A. Reese; loving grandmother of Gregory Adam Bartosz, Donna Bartosz Green, William Adam Reese and Renee Reese O'Mailey, GG Mom to Abigail and Lindsey Green and Adam Bartosz. Relatives and friends are invited to call at Schimunek Funeral Home, Inc., 9705 Belair Rd (Perry Hall), on Tuesday from 7 to 9 P.M. and Wednesday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. where funeral services will be held on Thursday at 11 A.M. Interment Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery.

On March 9, 2003, ROBERT E. HULTQUIST, beloved husband of Mary Lou Hultquist (nee Badali), devoted father of Cynthia M. Hultquist and Bruce K. Hultquist and his wife Mary Ann, loving grandfather of Robert John, Trevor Pierce and Abigail Marie Hultquist, dear brother of Carol Greenup. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church, Fullerton, on Saturday at 10 A.M. Interment private. The family will receive friends at the Johns Hopkins Club, on Saturday, from 12 to 3 P.M. In lieu of flowers, you may make a blood or platelet donation to the American Red Cross in Robert's name or a donation to The American Cancer Society, 8219 Town Center Drive, PO Box 43025, Baltimore, MD. 21236.

HAIFA, Israel - The files were blue and pink, one for a boy, the other for a girl, with the photos of each child stapled to the front. They were strewn on a principal's desk, nearly lost amid the clutter that included a eulogy. The binders were for eighth-grade classmates Yuval Mendelevich, 13, and Abigail Litle, 14, who attended the Reali School in this seaside city in northern Israel. They were among 15 passengers killed Wednesday when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus, shattering Haifa's sense of relative security.

On February 19, 2003 SAMANTHAABIGAIL POKUSA, age 6, died in her sleep. She is the beloved granddaughter of Joyce Pokusa; daughter of Brandy Pokusa; sister of Monica and Teyonne; niece of Chrissy and Robby; goddaughter of Junior Reynolds and Donna Chamberlin. Funeral services will be held at Ambrose Funeral Home of Arbutus on Saturday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9. Services will be held on Sunday at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to help with the funeral expenses. They may be sent in c/o Donna Chamberlin, 5531 Link Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21227.

Director Vincent Lancisi begins Everyman Theatre's production of "The Crucible" with an unscripted scene that sets the rest of the events in Arthur Miller's cautionary play in motion. At the back of designer Daniel Conway's abstract set, a small knot of young women, austerely dressed, appears - like nuns in a cloister. Then suddenly the girls are seized with a joyous, unbridled spirit that sends them dancing and shrieking with abandon. "The Crucible" is a play about fervor run amok. It's about a society whose passions are locked down so tightly that once released, they quickly spiral out of control.

"After the War," by Alice Adams. Knopf. 305 pages. $24. Alice Adams' 11th and posthumous novel, "After the War," is a novel of happy endings. So many of the characters in this book find or rediscover true love that it seems their creator, who died last year of a heart ailment, knew her end was near and wished to provide for her fictional children as well as possible. "After the War" begins immediately where her 1995 novel "Southern Exposure" left off. In the earlier novel, Cynthia and Harry Baird moved with their daughter Abigail from Connecticut to Pinehill, N.C. Ostensibly they were in search of a less hectic, more genteel, and more affordable life.

"Hello, dear friends, and welcome to my online home," Miss Abigail invites. "Take a step back in time with me as I pull out relevant quotes, tidbits and words of wisdom from my collection of old advice books in a quest to solve your modern-day dilemmas."The Web site is "Miss Abigail's Time Warp Advice," found at www.MissAbigail.com. On it, Miss Abigail, a k a Abigail Grotke, posts timeless common sense about "puberty, dating, love, living together, marriage, sex, relationships, etiquette, home repair and housekeeping" from her collection of 252 books, spanning the years from 1822 to 1977.

POWDERED WIGS and "Yankee Doodle" are out; body piercing and the Macarena are in.(Well, the Macarena was in.) Yet nothing really changes. Here are the opening words of a new book:"It was a special time in the history of America. The Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, called it a `reign of witches.' A short, fat man who puffed at `seegars' and believed in monarchy was President of the United States. At incautious moments, he predicted the nation's conversion to a kingdom with a titled nobility to oversee Congress.