by Norma Best Boucher “I’d say you have another 10 years,” the doctor said casually. He stared at his computer. I stared at him. His facial expression never changed, but my mouth opened into a big O-shape, and my eyes opened extra wide. His “You’ve got a lot of life left in you.” was my […]
by Norma Best Boucher I was never a good swimmer. Neither of my parents could swim, so I wore a life jacket throughout my early years. Of course, later on I was embarrassed wearing the jacket, so I figured I should learn to swim, but how? The answer came during the summer I turned 10 […]
by Norma Best Boucher I remember the day; I remember the hour; I even remember the skipped heartbeat when I first heard my six-year-old son Alan’s words: “I want to be a hockey player.” Translation – You can be my hockey mom. * * * * * * “I have to teach him to skate?” I asked my husband. “You’re […]
by Norma Best Boucher Report card 1952, Kindergarten—Norma has a vivid imagination. Mrs. W. “How’s school going, Norma?” “Daddy, it’s only baby grade, and we only go in the morning.” “I know, but kindergarten is a big deal. What do you do in school? “We read a big book on a chair about Dick and […]
by Norma Best Boucher 1987 – According to Shirley MacLaine, with crystals at each corner of my shower and with the fingertips of both of my hands touching in pyramidic fashion, if I chant three times, I will find an inner peace. Here goes: “My fortieth birthday will not be a traumatic experience.” “My fortieth […]
by Norma Best Boucher Glenna Johnson Smith of Presque Isle died August 8, 2020, at the age of 100. She had been a potato farmer, an educator, a columnist, an editor, a dramatist, a poet, an author, and a community leader. At age 90 she published her first book, Old Maine Woman. Her second book, […]
by Norma Best Boucher “Shhh! Can you keep a secret?” I look first to my left and then to my right. “Well, can you?” Here goes. I read other people’s mail. That’s right. I read other people’s mail. Okay, before you get all bent out of shape, I don’t steal and steam open envelopes as snoopy […]
by Norma Best Boucher “Hey, great shoes!” I hear a man yell across the convenience store parking lot. “Thanks!” I answer loudly as I look around for the person with the compliment. There he is, a thin, old man with a scraggly white beard sitting in an old beat-up red truck. “I like them shoes!” […]
by Norma Best Boucher “My Big Sister” “I have a baby sister!” she yelled riding her bike up and down the street. That was what my parents told me my older sister Marlene did on the day I was born. I wasn’t there, of course, but I always felt pride and love knowing that she […]
by Norma Best Boucher I locked up my car and walked to the sidewalk leading to the thrift shop. When I looked up, the child’s eyes met mine. We both smiled. “What a beautiful baby,” I told the young mother. Inches away from them, looking straight at the face of the roughly six- month-old child, […]