Shortly before Christmas in 2023, when Lewiston was still reeling from the mass shooting of that October, I sat in a pew in the nearly empty Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul to talk with Gov. Janet Mills.

After speaking constantly for two months about that awful night where 18 people died in one of the country’s worst acts of gun violence, it was clear both of us felt a little shattered. Tears and heartache can wear you down.

Mills learned that during her first term as Maine’s governor, leading the effort to contain a pandemic that ultimately killed more than 3,600 Mainers.

Dealing with such weighty, awful matters with steady, sympathetic and courageous leadership showed us all why we were lucky to have Janet Mills at the helm.

When Mills decided to challenge Sen. Susan Collins in the longtime incumbent’s reelection bid this year, I worried the governor was simply too old for the task — not just the campaign but the six years that would follow if she won. I wasn’t alone in that concern.

Democrats have turned away from Mills in the primary to give their support to an upstart oyster farmer with little to no political experience.

Last week, she ran out of money for her campaign. Today, Mills suspended her campaign.

I feel for her. It’s not easy to quit anything.

At the same time, I know what Mills is made of. She’s got a bit of Maine’s granite in her soul.

When we sat and talked that day in the Basilica, I asked her about what she’d learned from the Oct. 23 mass shooting and its aftermath. She didn’t focus on policy changes, as might have been expected. Instead, she talked about people.

Mills told me how she’d spoken with Thomas Giberti, who “saved those kids at the bowling alley by rushing them out the door,” and also with Dylan Harvey, who pulled Giberti to safety after killer Robert Card shot him seven times.

Men like Giberti and Harvey, she said, “are all heroes” — the kind of people who often emerge in the darkest of times.

Mills was quick to point out, though, that a society can’t depend “on that kind of heroism and compassion” to address its problems. It needs to find ways to prevent terrible things from happening.

Her administration hasn’t always taken positions I agreed with, especially on Native rights. But I haven’t met a politician yet who always does what I think is best (no doubt itself for the best; I’ve been known to be wrong).

What I admire about Mills is that she tried to address problems and sought to lend a helping hand to people in Maine who are struggling, including by expanding Medicaid to provide healthcare for tens of thousands. She saw the value in a government that aimed high. She herself aimed high, something this 2026 Senate run confirmed.

Mills’ choice to suspend her campaign has ensured one of the nation’s wildest Senate races just kicked into high gear. Graham Platner will now be looking past the primary to focus entirely on defeating Sen. Susan Collins in November. But let’s leave that aside for now.

Take a moment to appreciate Maine’s first woman district attorney, attorney general and governor. Her public career shows a long record of service to her state and its people.

Perhaps now Mills can enjoy the years ahead poking around the state without the pressures of politics. I sure hope she will.