I learned about breaking in from the movies. When the crook was locked out of a massive vault, he’d file his fingers for increased sensitivity, and “crack that safe.” So I did the same when I was around 14. I had been hired to work in a mail room. I had to push boxes of […]
Meetinghouse
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Jody Rich, Waterville: Cooler, and younger, heads prevail
Summer of 2019, remember that? People came to visit and we got together to enjoy one another? It was during that time when my good friend Hattie had both of her adult children home for one such visit. I like to leave families alone at times when they can get together so they aren’t distracted […]
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Gary Moore, Cumberland: Be careful what you wish for
Being youngsters in the third grade of a grammar school in Maine, we were always hopeful that the next winter storm would give us a day off. Perhaps we would spend the day with the firemen at Portland’s Engine No. 11 nearby. It seemed especially delicious because the fire barn was right next door to […]
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Jenny McKendry, Hallowell: Amid downed limbs, a clear path emerges
The Ice Storm of ’98 was a catalyst for change in my life. It brought to a head the dissatisfaction I’d felt in my marriage, which I’d roiled against for years. Having avoided grabbing ahold of a choice to make my own, finally I saw the lay of the land from a new angle. It […]
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Nancye Tuttle, Wells: Danger from out of nowhere
“Don’t pick up the baby. Whatever you do, don’t pick up the baby.” My father-in-law’s voice boomed over the intercom from the flying bridge of his vessel, the Marnie II, as I sat frozen in fear in the salon below. The 32-foot-long boat tossed and turned in 10-foot seas as rain pounded down, thunder crashed […]
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Lee Van Dyke, Portland; Parents legacy is what they teach
But not everything passes from one generation to the next.
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Anne Holliday Abbott, Portland: My father passed down blue eyes, and a singular outlook
My father, Samuel Holliday, had deep-set blue eyes that were the kind that threw you off. You never knew what he was thinking. Statistically only 8 percent of the world’s population has blue eyes, and it is believed that all blue-eyed people have one common European ancestor. These rarities fit well with the mercurial and […]
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Aprillyn Brunelle, Yarmouth: My parents’ emphasis on family was their best bequest
My understanding of inheritance has evolved over the last few years. This evolution began in July 2017 when I lost my mom and confidante to cancer. Soon after, my dear dad passed away, in November 2018. If that was not enough, I also lost my brother suddenly, on Jan. 1, 2020. With my recent life […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Dinah Crader Johnson, Gorham: What was given comes back, full circle
As an anthropologist, I am keenly aware that there are at least two different kinds of inheritance: biological and cultural. I inherited my strawberry-blond hair and blue eyes from my WASP-y ancestors who came from Scandinavia and Great Britain. My younger son inherited these same traits from me, along with my allergy to penicillin (poor […]
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Linda Penkalski, Lamoine: A mom’s real legacy is the person you become
On April 17, my mom, Rhoda Schneider, 97 years old, passed away due to COVID-19. She had been living in an assisted living center in Michigan near my youngest sister. It has been very surreal as I could not fly out to visit her when she first got sick and we had a Zoom funeral […]