I hear voices around town mocking the “old ladies” protesting the Trump administration’s actions on the bridge in Cherryfield.

We’re there because we are old. We have been around for a long time and we have seen so much.

I remember the photograph of a very young Canadian soldier dressed in his military uniform on my grandmother’s night stand. I remember her sad story of the day soldiers showed up on her mother’s doorstep and said, “His Majesty the King regrets to inform you …”. She kept her little brother’s photo on her nightstand until she died at the age of 98.

So no, I do not condone the disrespect of allies who fought beside us and died to stop the spread of fascism. I remember my grandfather’s story on how he was left for dead on the battlefields of Europe, and how a nurse in the morgue saw a white sheet move. “This one is alive!”

So again, I do not condone the disrespect and disdain shown to John McCain and to our military.

I remember watching my little sister die of AIDS. So no, I do not condone cutting medical research grants. There are cures out there waiting to be discovered. While the well insured are taken care of, the uninsured die way too soon.

I remember burying two young nephews, a niece and a sister from fentanyl overdoses. Young, vibrant, beautiful lives lost way too soon. So yes, I find it very offensive that this administration uses drugs as an excuse for its tariff policies. I believe that it would be more beneficial to stop the blaming and talk about the millions of guns that are going into Mexico from the U.S. that has allowed these cartels to become all-powerful.

I remember watching my husband bravely endure and survive four years of brutal chemo treatments. So no, I do not condone cutting money from the CDC and universities for research grants. He is alive and well today because of all this new research.

I remember watching my father’s house get flooded and his dismay at the damage to all his stuff. He was, after all, a Depression baby who saved everything. So no, I do not condone cuts to FEMA.

I remember immigrants at work, working harder (for little money) than anyone else making six-figure salaries, always with a smile on their faces and never a negative word about anyone. Much unlike the racist and cruel remarks made by those who considered themselves better. This country was built on immigrant labor. I do believe our immigration system could be better, but I do not condone this disgusting degradation of immigrants.

I remember the stories of the Nazis burning books (much like pulling books off the shelves in our libraries) and snatching people off of the streets, which is really happening here right now. I remember stories of the cultural revolution in China. I never saw my mother laugh so hard as when she saw her first drag show.

I remember the suppression of free speech in Russia and how dissent was rewarded with a one-way ticket to the Gulag. I remember how Trump’s best buddy Putin poisoned people who displeased him. He is not your friend.

I remember the fear I felt when I became single in middle age. DEI helped me secure a well-paying job in a company composed of all men. I thrived because I was given the opportunity. DEI is not there to favor minorities and women, it is there so that the more qualified person is chosen over a white male in a white male patriarchal society. I worked in that male-dominated system for 40 years and it was always a struggle.

I do not like bullies. This is why we are on the bridge.