It was always a special, exciting day when we took Sugar Haven to one of the fairs to race. It was my job to bring her to her stall in the paddock, brush and rub her down while waiting for our race to be called by the marshal. I was the groom. Fetching her harness […]
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Beatrice Talmage, Portland: A new home and a lifelong friend
It was the four of us, a Volvo 240 and a 20-foot U-Haul. We were moving to Maine. Originally, my parents had fallen in love with a charming cape in Bowdoinham. I remember that its interior was filled with unique nooks, like a kitchen pantry that felt like a secret hideaway. But, as the token […]
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Krysteana Scribner, Calais: Chance meeting renews faith in my chosen path
Walking out of a coffee shop on a dreary December afternoon last year, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar face. My high school poetry teacher, Martin Steingesser, was walking through Portland wearing his signature cap and glasses. Shuffling through a disarray of paperwork, he seemed deep in thought as he […]
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David Agan, Wells: ‘Governor Baxter would like to speak with you’
It’s a cool, cloudy Tuesday in late August 1966. Alone near dusk in the new park, I’m a lucky guy. I made it through my first year of college and have this summer job as a state park ranger in my hometown. They hired a bunch of us to help open the new park at […]
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Kelly Sterns, East Dixfield: Snake plus books equals hands-on adventure
When I first started gifting new, free books door to door, I never expected I’d baby-sit a reader’s snake on the family’s front steps while the reader was busy ordering titles. But these are the kinds of surprising adventures that pop up in my day now. Walking Books Library, which gives new books, offers a […]
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Nancye Tuttle, Wells: Reunion brings new spark to an old friendship before it’s too late
If Peter Pan had had a twin sister, she would have been like my late college roommate, Carol Ann Hough. Called “Huff” or “Huffy” by those who knew and loved her during our college days in the 1960s, she was free-spirited, adventurous, a fun-filled sprite. My fellow Glassboro State College friends and I dubbed her […]
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Jamie Cypher, Otisfield: Waning days of childhood
“Sweet Adeline … my Ad-e-line.” The entertainment portion of our family get-together had begun. My Uncle Mike started things off with a few notes of this perennial favorite. My father and my other two uncles joined in one at a time, the beginning of the song repeated until all were somewhat in tune with each […]
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Dennise Dullea Whitley, Norway: The Maine places where my family stories come from
Daniel Francis Dullea came from Peabody, Massachusetts, to Norway, Maine, to live in 1900 and to work for the B.F. Spinney Co., a shoe manufacturing firm. The selectmen of Norway had pooled their own personal funds to construct a four-story factory building to specifically attract workers from that shoe factory in Peabody. Imagine that in […]
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Jenny McKendry, Hallowell: The family that Zooms together finds a lifeline
Our family didn’t discover that using Zoom to talk with each other was a good idea until quite recently. I can’t believe that the virus is still dominating our lives and that its influence has vastly changed us. Last spring we’d privately taken part in online business meetings, but as far as using this tool […]
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Annunziata Graziano, Readfield: Face to face with my guardian angel
Someone recently asked me if religion is a big part of my life. I tried to highlight all the ways I stay connected to my faith, but there are moments that are unexplainable even to me. I have trusted my life in God’s hands since the day I was born. My faith has faltered, and […]