A father’s calm explanation made all the later storms of life easier to take.
Meetinghouse
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
Lee Van Dyke, Portland: Hurricane leaves behind memory of shared jokes, feasts
People in Alabama remember hurricanes by name. Katrina (2005) spread devastation from New Orleans to Mississippi, leaving Gulf Shores looking like a war zone. Ivan (2004) dropped 4 inches of rain on Mobile Bay going one way, then circled back and dropped 8 more. Neighbors always ask newcomers if you were here and remember the last […]
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Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
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 […]
Posted inMeetinghouse, Opinion
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 […]