Today I am expressing my gratitude for Growing up in Greenville, Maine. There have been few influences on my life greater than this. The foundation of who I am today was built on the streets, in the school, in my home and with the people I shared the experience with.
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Small Town To Say the Least, Greenville, Maine
Greenville was and is a very small town, but it was the only town I knew as home as a child. There are two sides of the coin when you
live in a small town. On one side people are supportive of you in all that you do. On the other side, it is difficult to live your life without having everyone know your business.
That is the fate of a small town, for me, those issues were never a factor because I loved living there and growing up with the people I grew up with. A small town gave me the foundation to think, create and write. In many ways, I have never felt as much like myself as when I was there.
Friends Forever
It is an odd thing about friendship that it often flows in and out of your life like the tides in the sea. The shared experience that you
build your friendship around often determines the length of the friendship. Believe it or not, the people that I went to elementary school with in Greenville, Maine are still some of the dearest friends I have.
There was something about working our way through the growth of our youth that allowed us to bond. With very few exceptions, today when I see someone from that era, we can talk and carry on in a fashion like no time has passed. I believe this is true because we knew each other before life taught us hard lessons, and gave us difficult things to deal with. At the core of each of us is that person we were when we were young. I think I look at those friends with the eyes of understanding, that I know who they are, and they know me. There is no judgment on choices we have made, or what we have become, it is what each of us was that I remember.
When I hear from one of these people on Facebook, or should I see them in person, I am transported back to a time in the 1970’s before cell phones, computers, and video games, when we actually played outside, every day. These were my brothers and sisters and still are today. That is an experience I am extremely grateful for.
The Town Itself
If I took you on a tour of 1970’s Greenville, we would walk the mile
from the school to my house in the Junction, and on the way there, most every car that passed we would recognize. It seemed like I knew everyone. We would walk to Breton’s store which is still there today and buy the candy treat of our choice with the quarter I had squirreled away for just such an occasion. My parents never worried that I would be harmed or abducted. They told me to never talk to strangers and in Greenville, it was easy not to do, I knew everyone even as a kid.
If we went into the downtown area, there were a number of old haunts which still exist today at least enough to let you meet the ghost of my memories. It doesn’t matter if I went to Jamison’s Store or to Harris Drug Store, I always seemed to get what I was looking for. I was always with a friend or my brother and we were always on the go, heading to a pickup game of some sort.
Moving, The End of That Life
As I was finishing the 7th grade, I found out my family was moving. I didn’t tell anyone because I think I felt if I just ignored it then the move would never take place. I did not want to move. I loved my friends and my life there. After moving I picked up the pieces of my shattered reality and moved forward, but in my heart, I will always carry that place, the people, and our experiences there in Greenville, Maine. I am grateful for them all!
