Mainers take pride in being independent thinkers. Hard-working people of the state of Maine love their families. We take care of each other when times are hard and celebrate in times of plenty. While I’m no stranger to hard times, these last years have been some of the scariest I can imagine.

I returned to Maine shortly before the pandemic after living homeless on the streets of Portland, Oregon. When the first breakouts happened, I was so grateful to be living in a place where socially distancing was possible. And I was so grateful for Maine’s governor, Janet Mills. She made difficult political decisions. No Maine governor has ever had to confront anything like this and the president at the time was not showing any leadership. Face masks saved lives. Vaccines saved lives. Gov. Mills did what she had to do.

As a former nurse with 30 years of experience, I have a healthy respect for a viral pandemic. I worked in San Francisco at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. I saw people die of AIDS before they knew what it was. If you’re reluctant to get vaccinated, you should. From what I know as a nurse, you might not know you have an underlying health problem or if you’re pregnant. I’m starting to wear my face mask again and I do it to protect other people. It’s about compassion for our neighbors.

One thing I love about Maine is the character of the people here; it’s different from the people I encountered on the West Coast. The sense of personal integrity is very different. We can get through this if we pull together and with Gov. Mills’ leadership, I think it’s possible.

 

Elizabeth Fogg

Augusta

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