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December 2, 2018

Judith Robbins: ‘Now I was the mother’

Three of my kids and I were driving down I-95 on our way to Shrewsbury, Mass., to visit my mother, their grandmother, whom they called Mummu, a reflection of her Finnish heritage. As we crossed the Piscataqua River bridge and saw the sign welcoming us to New Hampshire, the level of excitement rose. We were […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Molly Young, Portland: One encounter, two experiences

It was two o’clock in the morning and I was tired, lonely. I was supposed to be staying in a Washington D.C. hostel that had bedbugs the size of cats, but in the middle of a humid night, I figured I’d be more comfortable waiting for my 4:30 a.m. train in a cracked, plastic chair […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Elizabeth Dostie, Fairfield Center: Coming home, and keeping going

I flew up the front steps of 2021 East 4th St. clutching a huge stuffed dog I’d just won at the holiday bingo at Holy Rosary, our parish in Duluth, Minnesota. It was late evening by then. I’d been invited to go with my best friend Ibby Kubiak and her Dad. It was my 10th […]
Published
December 2, 2018

The better angels of my muffler

It was the summer of 1975. I had a summer job in western Maine. With 24 hours off, my destination was Bangor. Homesick, I was hoping my tired Ford Fairlane would get me there. The winter before I had replaced the spark plugs, the alternator, the battery and the brake drums. It was a great […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Sarah Goldstein Szanton, Portland: Places change, but not the policy

“We have the same policy as Grandma,” my 26-year old son says to me from his home in Denver, Colorado, where he lives with his wife. “You’re welcome any time.” He grew up hearing that from his Grandma, my mom, who lives in the San Fernando Valley in southern California, my home from age 6 […]

Published
December 2, 2018

Joe Beardsley: History hiding, close to home

As I was making my way north from a conference, across from the Delaware River I happened upon something “hidden in plain sight.” How I missed this before, I can only speculate. Anyway, at the Conference, in 2016 in Dover, Delaware, we United Methodists had celebrated the bicentennial of the African Methodist Episcopal [AME] church. […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Jim Chiddix, Waterville: Lost in the fog

One cool and sunny spring morning, Captain Elliot asked me for help to sail his old 30 foot wooden power cruiser out of Blue Hill Bay to its summer home, at a mooring in Bucks Harbor. The trip of about 20 sea miles up Eggemoggin Reach should have taken only a couple of hours so […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Monique Coombs, Orr’s Island: Lobsterman’s wife

My husband gets up around 4 a.m. to go lobstering on days that the weather allows. By 5 o’clock, he’s down at the boat and headed out of the cove, well before I’m getting out of bed and getting the kids ready for school. Once the kids are off, I head to work myself. I […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Steve Saunders, Wayne: Where you go to figure out what’s going on

My father enlisted late in World War II and by the time his troopship arrived in the Philippines, the war was all but over. He spent about six months there, saw no conflict and returned home to Maine with a few souvenir Japanese swords and a bad case of malaria. Before he arrived home, my […]
Published
December 2, 2018

Margaret Jones, Old Orchard Beach: Coming home to say goodbye

Maine was in the glorious throes of autumn when the phone call came. I had just pulled in the driveway of my Old Orchard Beach home. It was my sister. “It’s Dad.” She said in an urgent voice. “He’s going quickly. I think you need to come home as soon as you can.” My eyes […]

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