It was Christmas Eve, and Rusty, Deb and I planned to attend midnight Mass at St. William’s Church in Tewksbury. We would ride with the either the Connollys or the other good Catholic family, the Couillards. Our parents were already in bed for the night. Gifts were under the tree, and stockings, with oranges in […]
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Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Roland Beaudoin, Falmouth: My swim for survival to Mackworth Island
On June 4, 1985, grit or persistence came to my rescue. My small motorized 14-foot boat was anchored at Falmouth Town Landing. My plan was to take a ride into Portland Harbor and putter around. The local harbormaster was a retired Coast Guardsman; for some reason, when I arrived, he described how bodies looked when […]
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Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Kay Wheeler, Raymond: Rescuing a skunk, avoiding the funk
“Come on, you can do this.” How often have do we say those words to our children? Where does bravery come from? Where do we get “grit”? For boys, we think sports make them stronger, with more grit. For girls, I’m not sure at this point. Is bravery physical? Is grit the power to punch […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Gregory Greenleaf, Harpswell: When the going gets tough
This is a story where I put myself in a good light and show my true grit in a tough situation. It is Monday, Dec. 12, 1994, 8:59 p.m., and Allison, my girlfriend-future wife, and I are in my apartment in New York City preparing to watch Dan Marino and my Miami Dolphins play against […]
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Gail Caiazzo, Saco: Who’s minding the store?
New Year’s Eve 1953 was a fun night for my sister Patty and me. Our family lived in an apartment over “John’s Foodland,” the general store my parents owned in Buckfield. Patty had overheard Mom and Dad making plans to go out to celebrate the New Year after all eight of their children were expected […]
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Gregory Greenleaf, Harpswell: Murphy was an optimist
Some laws are meant to be broken. Some laws are meant to break us. Take Stapp’s Ironical Paradox and Murphy’s Law, for example. Murphy’s Law sagely observes that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. If you haven’t heard of Stapp’s Ironical Paradox, recognize it possesses even greater insight into the human condition: “The universal […]
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Tony Scarpelli, Portland: Can’t fool the lieutenant
After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in 1961, I went to the Army Signal School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, which was close to Eatontown. We all had to do KP (kitchen police – we set up for and cleaned up after meals), which I hated. So I joined the Drum and Bugle […]
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Lee Van Dyke, Portland: Early mayhem still has loud echoes
I had pals who inspired mischief, and I wanted to get away with the same or better than they did. I know this particular mischief wasn’t really clever, and it didn’t turn destructive, or I’d never ’fess up to it in a family newspaper. Much of the time it started in garages when our parents […]
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Brenda E. Smith, Belfast: Come on in, the water’s fine
We rarely went to the beach when I was a child, but one day Mom promised my 4-year-old brother, and 5-year-old me, that if the following day was “beach weather,” we’d pack a picnic lunch and spend the day frolicking in the cool waves and building sand castles. The next morning we woke to a […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Gail Caiazzo, Saco: I’m ditching dieting
“Food insecurity”? When did that phrase become the way to describe being poor? Our mom did the best she could, but feeding eight children on limited resources was not easy. Once a month she would go to the town hall to collect surplus food. Powdered milk, processed cheese, butter and canned meat were staples in our […]