When we moved to Brunswick in 2002, we bought a house in Meadowbrook. We liked the house, and we liked the realtor, Diane Moyer. Not only did she know how to show a house, but also she knew how to bond with prospective buyers. For example, Diane and Tina quickly discovered that they were both breast cancer survivors. I liked her generous spirit in dealing with my quips as well as my questions. That first encounter resulted in a rewarding friendship that lasted over 20 years, until her death a few weeks ago.

We’d often encounter Diane at Maine State Music Theatre shows or at different events around town. She always gave us big hugs. She always told it like it was about a musical or a lecture or the political scene (we were definitely on the same side of the political divide.) Sometimes we would take her out to dinner.

Five years ago, when we first talked about selling the Meadowbrook house and moving to Thornton Oaks, Diane said, “No, don’t do that. You’re both still too young to go there.” She knew us well, and she really believed that. She put herself in our shoes, even though she knew she could have sold the house in a heartbeat. She also knew that we would use her as our realtor when we decided to move, which we did in February 2023.

When I asked Diane how long she planned to keep selling houses, she said, “I’ll never stop. I want to die while I’m showing a house.” I loved that response, because I have the same feeling about writing. Incidentally, Tina, Diane and I were all born in the same year, 1942.

When we learned that Diane had died, we were deeply saddened. I had just talked to her a few weeks earlier about trends in the real estate market. She was always forthcoming when I talked to her about real estate or anything else. And she always returned calls right away, a rare practice these days.

I knew that Diane was very well known and well liked, so I suggested to Tina that we go early to the service at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath on April 17. I was right. We got there half an hour early and the event space was rapidly filling up. It ended up being a standing-room-only crowd of over 300 devoted family members and friends. Incidentally, right beside the guest sign-in book was a photo of Diane riding on a camel, a big smile on her face. She loved traveling everywhere and for any reason.

I learned some things about Diane during the compelling tributes and testimonies. She loved to shop — “Her heart was as big as her wardrobe.” She was, er, a less-than-careful driver. One man noted that, “She treated the parking lot like her own demolition derby.” She was a hardcore smoker. And her favorite singer was Barbra Streisand (mine, too).

Many of the comments from Diane’s friends and family confirmed what I already knew. She was generous with her time, her affection and her advice — whether you wanted it or not. She was an avid reader and explorer. She was never afraid to state her opinion. She never let her many health issues dampen her spirit. Indeed, she never lost that twinkle in her eye. And, perhaps most of all, she was loyal. If you were her friend, you were her friend. Full stop. As one of her granddaughters said, “She was my rock. Through every stage of my life, she has been there for me.”

One of the speakers quoted a poem, which included the phrase, “Mourning is the price we pay for the courage to love others.” And so it is. Diane possessed the courage to love many many others.

A fellow Bath resident said of Diane, “The light of the City of Ships will never shine as bright again.”

Diane loved Broadway musicals, so it was fitting that Curt Dale Clark, the artistic director of Maine State Music Theatre, gave a tribute. After reading a beautiful poem that he had written about Diane, he said, “I never wondered where I stood with Diane. She always lived and spoke her truth.”

Curt then led the big crowd in the singing of four songs from Broadway Musicals: “Anything Goes,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “The Impossible Dream” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

Our good friend Diane Moyer lived the messages conveyed in the lyrics of “The Impossible Dream”:

“To dream the impossible dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrows

To run where the brave dare not go,

To right the unrightable wrong,

To love pure and chaste from afar,

To try when your arms are too weary,

To reach the unreachable star.”

After the crowd finished singing the songs, Curt suggested we all give Diane Moyer a well deserved standing ovation, which we did. A fine tribute to a one-of-a-kind Midcoast Maine superstar.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.