“Mom, do I have to wear my boots today?” When I used to ask Mom that question 50 years ago, she knew what a big pain it was to put them on. They really were galoshes, and if they were the least bit tight, we had to sit down on the floor and pull them […]
Meetinghouse
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Jody Rich, Waterville: Mom knew the secret of a long marriage
It was January 2000. Sister Deb and I were visiting our parents. The Saturday morning ritual was, butts in the car at 7:30 to go out to breakfast. Lollygaggers were left behind to eat cold cereal. It was our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Months earlier, we had asked Dad what he thought of a party […]
advertisement
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
J. Lauren Sangster, Portland: Happiness found amid duct tape and paint
After my husband, Mike, passed away, simple, everyday occurrences that at one time were easily taken care of caused me to feel insecure, frightened and sad. I sometimes felt a great deal of anger. There were moments when I wanted to go for a walk or a drive, and keep going and never look back. […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Jody Rich, Waterville: Stop for repairs turns farmer’s field into concert venue
It was the late spring of 1975 and I was 19 years old, wearing pink hot pants and a halter top. I was a member of a USO tour in Southeast Asia. Ten of us from the University of Maine at Farmington were in Korea. Transport between military bases was by helicopter. One day, we […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Marpheen Chann, Portland: Fear overtakes common sense during a post-storm drive
Close calls can teach you a lot of lessons about life. It was a cold winter morning in 2011, and I was home from college for winter break in Naples. A nor’easter had just swept through the night before and left several feet of snow in its wake. I did a visual check of the […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Uncategorized
Kay Wheeler, Raymond: Progress has saved us many close calls
Sometimes at my age, my mind wanders and looks back at what has passed before me. Often I ask, “Why am I still here?”, but I am so will go with it. Lately, articles in the paper regarding religion and vaccinations, blood transfusions, immigration and the like have caught my attention. My mind goes […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Annunziata Graziano, Brunswick: When in doubt, consider that it might be just fireworks
I wasn’t even a week into freshman year when I heard the saying “You’ll never know if those are gunshots or fireworks.” Savannah College of Art and Design boasted an extravagant campus in a charming city. Robberies weren’t mentioned in our orientation packet, and neither were the four years of sirens we’d hear on a […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Steven Price, Kennebunkport: In the desert, seeking salvation
A year out of college, I was finding it impossible to land a job in the journalistic profession for which I’d spent four years preparing. There were two newspapers in Salt Lake City, where I was living at the time, and neither the Tribune nor the Deseret News was interested in my unproven reportorial prowess. […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Leslie Bowering, Concord Township: Saved by the miracle map
My husband, Alan, walks through the Maine woods regularly with an ease and confidence I cannot share. He has been wandering through vast woodlands since he was 5, so I was not surprised when he saw the old fire tower off in the distance, researched the trail map and decided to hike to it. We […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Cheryl A. Stringer, New Gloucester: Panic on the rocks
I am not by nature a risk-taker. In general I prefer to play it safe, at least in real life. But even the most cautious people can have their moments of insanity, especially in their teen years. One summer day I visited Fort Williams with my family. I had spent several of my formative years […]