To the Editor:
My first visit to Maine in 1997 was a week’s vacation on Long Lake. My brother and I had sprung for a house on the lake to celebrate my parents’ 40th anniversary. On our first day, we had breakfast in Bridgton and were heading out to explore. We had purchased a crisp copy of the Maine Gazetteer to help us navigate on our great adventure.
As we sat at the red light on Main Street and Route 117, my brother and I consulted the map to determine our destination. Once we decided, I looked up at the light just in time to see it turn red again. Yes, the people from away with New Jersey plates just sat through the entire green light cycle. And there was a car behind us, maybe two.
I was flustered, embarrassed, but also amazed; no one honked their horn. What kindness these Mainers have, I thought, that I could be lost, confused, and inconvenient, to say the least, and yet they had patience and empathy. This is the Maine I fell in love with.
We have since made Norway our home away from home. My parents have passed and my daughter has grown up coming here several times a year. We spend increasingly more time here each year. I continue to believe that kindness is the Mainer’s way.
David Boldt Smith
Brooklyn, NY
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