Three of my kids and I were driving down I-95 on our way to Shrewsbury, Mass., to visit my mother, their grandmother, whom they called Mummu, a reflection of her Finnish heritage. As we crossed the Piscataqua River bridge and saw the sign welcoming us to New Hampshire, the level of excitement rose. We were […]

My ambition to live in the United States comes from my childhood. Many reasons forced people to change their home. In my case, nothing pushed me to leave home. People often ask me why I chose America and a U.S. citizen as my husband. I simply answer that I fell in love with my husband, […]

I was 9 when I first realized that my father was being eaten alive by the monster of addiction. By age 16, my parents had divorced after 20 years of marriage. Contact with my father was sporadic over the next decade, and of decreasing frequency. At one point I had not seen my father in […]

It was the winter of 1974-75 and I was a freshman at University of Maine/Farmington. I was riding home to Tewksbury, Mass., with Dave, who lived in nearby Billerica. It was snowing when we left after his last class on Friday. When I got into his Chevy, Dave muttered, “I’m not sure how good my […]

In 1994, in the wake of major life changes, I fulfilled a dream I’d held since 1963 and volunteered for the United States Peace Corps. My deep belief in the Corps and the trust shown me in the selection process laid my path to Poland, four years after the Berlin Wall fell. After training, I […]

Growing up in Anson, I couldn’t wait to escape. A nearby Carnegie library proved there was a more exciting world out there. A high school so small it took five towns and two unorganized townships to exist was hardly that bigger world. Even then I was living an Eagles refrain: “I’m already gone.” College in […]

There are all kinds of home. There’s the home you enjoy without thought when you’re a kid, the first apartment you decorate alone, and the house you share later on with those you love. If you’re lucky, you’ll have more than one home at a time – a job that feels just right, and a […]

We’d flown since early morning from Seattle’s SeaTac Airport, via Detroit, then Boston and finally home to Portland. It’s late. I’m tired and hungry. You don’t get anything to eat on the later flights. Not even a peanut. Home after Christmas. Our headlights cascade down a long, winding, driveway piled three feet deep with snow. […]