THE BEST VIEW: If at first you don’t succeed…

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 years old – Girl Scout Day Camp.

What a blast! There were crafts, archery, songs, and swimming. The fun began when we got on the bus. Whoever said that singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” was boring was never on the bus with 35 10- to 12-year-old giggly girls loving to say the word “beer.”

After crafts and lunch came swimming. I was prepared. Even before visualization was in my vocabulary, I was practicing it. I imagined myself walking into the cold lake water and swimming gracefully from one dock to the other and back again.

I went up to the swimming instructor. All the girls were yelling and jumping off the dock. Mrs. Tobey was taking names, talking with the girls individually, and shouting instructions to the crowd. I finally managed to reach her and said, “Mrs. Tobey, I don’t know how to swim. What do I do?”

She said, “Jump in.”

“Jump in?” I thought. No, that was not part of my visualization.

I asked again. “Mrs. Tobey, I don’t know how to swim. What do I do?”

Without even so much as a look at me, she gently touched my back and not so gently pushed me off the wharf into the water.

“Help!” I yelled spitting out water.

I heard Mrs. Tobey yell something to me, but I was too busy flailing my arms and trying not to sink to hear what she was saying.

“Help!” I yelled again.

This time I heard what she was saying.

“Stand up!” she yelled.

What did she say? “Stand up!”

Oh, yeah. Stand up and go directly to the bottom where no one will hear my screams for help.

“Stand up!” she yelled again.

That was it. I was too exhausted to continue, so I put my feet down hard deciding to go straight down and to disappear. Everyone would see that she had drowned me when my dead body floated up to the top.

I pushed down really hard, and my feet hit the ground. The next thing I knew I was standing straight up with the water reaching up to my chest.

Although I never really forgave Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me, she did teach me to swim the dog paddle that summer. I was on my way.

I didn’t see Mrs. Tobey again until my tenth-grade year when my girlfriends decided to take a Junior Life Saving course at the local Boys Club. By then I could do the side stroke, so I thought, “What the heck? I can do this.”

In a matter of weeks I had forgiven Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me, and I had learned how to swim the breaststroke and the crawl. I did everything she taught us, but apparently, I didn’t do any of it very well. When I tried to save my friend with the tired swimmer’s carry, I was totally submerged under water and so was she. This did not look good.

I passed the written test with a 100, but I failed the swimming/ saving a person’s life part. My friends all passed and moved on to the next level, but I decided to persevere and do this level one more time.

Again, I scored a 100 on the written test, but this time Mrs. Tobey sat me down to say, “Norma, you did very well on the written exam, but you did not pass the swimming test again. You should not try to save anyone else’s life. Just be happy that you can save yourself. Oh, and please do not take this Junior Life Saving course again.”

I was devastated. I knew that I would never be a real lifeguard, but I wanted to be able to say that I had passed that junior course. I mean I had forgiven Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me when I was 10 but forgive her for failing me two times at junior lifesaving? I had to think about that.

The semester ended at school, and as youth would have it, I forgot about my humiliation of failure and wanted to try something new.

I forgave Mrs. Tobey one more time, and in my youthful delusions I decided to remember the positive parts of her speech to me. “You got a 100 on the written test…you can save yourself…don’t take that swimming course again.”

I had been hearing my girlfriends discussing a new swimming course at the Boys Club. Again, Mrs. Tobey was the instructor. I mulled over the pros and cons. There was no testing involved. I would learn new swimming strokes. I would improve and maybe pass Junior Life Saving next time. I found no cons to the class.

I was about three minutes late to the first class. Mrs. Tobey was giving instructions to the girls who were standing next to the pool. I walked in. There was a low suction noise as the door to the pool closed. Instinctively, Mrs. Tobey turned to acknowledge the sound.

I smiled to say non-verbally, “Sorry I’m late.” and “Here I am, again.”

I wish I could describe accurately the expression on her face, but it would take a better writer than I.

Suffice it to say there was one second of pure horror in her facial expression when she realized that I was going to be in her newest swimming class – water ballet.

THE BEST VIEW: Confessions of a Hockey Mom

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 the athlete in the family—you teach him to skate.”

“You teach him to skate,” he said, “and I’ll teach him to play hockey.”

“Why me? Remember, I’m the one who took dancing lessons because I was so clumsy and at age five sat on my thumb and broke it and couldn’t be in the recital.”

“So?” he answered. “You were a cheerleader.”

“But I only did that to get into the games for free.”

“Skating is great exercise,” he added.

“This was my last rational plea. “But I’m Mrs. Couch Potato!”

Smiling, he answered, “I rest my case.”

* * * * * *

“My, God, he skates just like you.”

I had warned him, right? Hadn’t I warned him?

One year of intensive training, a frostbitten nose, frostbitten toes, a thousand miles on the car and another five thousand miles on my ice skates, not to mention the wear and tear on my body and all he could say was, “My, God, he skates just like you.”

What did I learn from this experience? I learned two things: one, once a couch potato always a couch potato and two, when you sit on your thumb at age five, it takes only six weeks to heal, but when you sit on our thumb at age 30, it takes six months to heal.

* * * * * *

“Hey, Mom, I’m on a hockey team. I’m number 6.”

Translation – He can now skate up and down the ice using a cutoff $20 hockey stick as a lethal weapon, and he can now legally crush against the boards any player who dares to touch that puck.

As the weeks went by, I learned hockey lingo.

Faceoff – This is when ten players line up with sticks to kill the puck to win or to kill each other – if they lose.

Off-sides – Technically this means a player went over his own blue line before the puck. The result is a face-off in front of his team’s goalie. Realistically this means if your son does this more than once or if a goal is scored, the mother of your team’s goalie will attack you because you are sitting closer to her than your son.

Checking – This is the legal crushing of bodies against the boards.

Charging – This is checking with the intent to kill but failing.

Major Penalty—This is checking with the intent to kill and succeeding.

“Get His Number!” – This is yelled by the mother of the player who was charged and still lives for revenge.

Burn – This is when a forward from one team skates past the defensemen of the other team and scores a goal. All the mothers then yell, “Get his number!” and the entire opposing team charges after the scorer.

(Note: If this player is your son, this is not a pretty picture.)

* * * * * *

“Hey, Mom, we’re going to play in a Squirt Tournament.”

Translation – I can now watch my seven-year-old kill or be killed in an arena with hundreds of frenzied mothers screaming, “Get his number!”

* * * * * *

Our team skated out. The nine-year-olds who could skate forward, backward and stop were line one, the Midgets. The eight-year-olds who could only skate forward and stop were line two, the Pipsqueaks. The seven-year-olds who could neither skate backward nor stop were line three, the Smurfs.

Not being able to skate backward was only a minor problem. The Smurfs just skated forward all the time. Not being able to stop was another story. Most hockey players do the snowplow where they stop sharply, turning their skates to the left or right and spraying a little loose, scraped ice to the side. Unable to do the snowplow, the Smurfs had developed a variety of methods for stopping. Some players dragged the toe of one skate; some skated into the boards; some skated into other players; and others did a pirouette-like whirl where they turned around on their toes in one spot.

The warmup started. Everyone was excited. Even I, who’d had nightmares about sending my lamb to the slaughter, was excited.

That was before I saw the opposing team’s players.

That’s our Rambo line,” volunteered the woman next to me. They’re our seven-year-olds.”

Just then five Rambo line players raced across the arena and snowplowed ice up onto the Plexiglas in front of us. At that precise moment I knew we were in trouble.

“Here comes our Commando line. They’re our eight-year-olds.”

Each of the Commando line players lined up on their blue line and took slap shots, one after another. Each puck sped past their goalie and into the net.

I wanted to stand up and yell “Help!” but all I could do was stare.

“And here are our nine-year-olds. We call them the Terminators.”

Dare I look?

In a gust of wind five giants skated past us. The top of my son’s helmet reached only to their shoulders.

Our goalie’s mother jumped up and screamed hysterically, “My, God, he shaves,” but all I could do was slouch in my seat, mumble incoherently, and pray, “Let Alan live, God, just let him live.”

“Which kid is yours?” the woman asked.

Alan’s over there, number 6. He plays center.”

“The one with the toothy grin and dimples?”

“Yes.”

“A shrimp, huh?”

“No, Smurf.”

“That’s my kid over there. Hey, Butch!” she yelled. “He’s the number one Terminator, the captain.”

As she said this, Attila the Hun with five o’clock shadow skated by and smiled.

“What happened to his front teeth?” I asked.

“Lost them in the last game.”

I stared in horror.

“You should have seen the other guy,” she boasted.

“Not my son, God, please, not mine.”

Throughout the game our coach played the Midget and Pipsqueak lines as much as possible. Everyone said he played them to keep the score at a respectable 15-0. Personally, I think he played them to keep the Smurfs alive, and I was grateful.

During the game Mrs. Terminator, as I had begun to call her, gave me a synopsis of her team’s successes.

“We’re undefeated, you know.”

Somehow that didn’t surprise me.

“In fact, no team has ever scored one goal against us.”

Somehow that fact didn’t surprise me either.

“Butch is the top scorer. If he scores one more goal in this game, he’ll have a triple hat trick, nine goals in the same game, and that will be a team record.”

She was praying for records, and I was praying for lives.

“You know, you get what you pay for,” she offered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I mean, I paid $250 for my kid to play on this team. They practice Monday through Friday and play games on Saturday and Sunday.

“I only paid $75 for Alan to play.”

“Ha!” she laughed. You wasted your money. Looks as if you paid $75 for a seat on the bench.”

She was definitely beginning to annoy me.

Just then one of the Pipsqueaks changed up lines, but the door was closed. In an attempt to get off the ice, he tried to put his leg over the boards. Unsuccessfully, I might add. Butch skated by, and with a motion of his hand he flipped the Pipsqueak over the boards and onto his head.

The rest, as they say, is history. That Pipsqueak was followed by other Pipsqueaks, and they were followed by Midgets. Relentlessly, Butch skated our players into exhaustion, into fear, and just plain into the boards.

“I told you,” Mrs. Terminator repeated. “Two hundred fifty dollars makes a winner.”

Suddenly, my heart was in my throat. The Smurfs were going out. There were five little cherub-faced seven-year-olds carrying $20 hockey sticks cut in half to reach their chins. Some skated into the boards; some skated into each other, one dragged a toe; and all pirouetted from blue line to blue line.

“This is a three-ring circus,” Mrs. Terminator laughed. “It’s worth my $250 just to see this.”

Right then I was beginning to imagine what she’d look like without her front teeth.

Butch had two minutes left to score his triple hat trick goal, and he was determined to succeed. The Smurfs gave up chasing and lined up for the attack. The next 30 seconds, a scene from a Marx Brothers movie, were the longest 30 seconds of my life.

Butch skated around his cage with the puck and headed straight for our zone. The only obstacle blocking his way was Alan. I covered my face, and that’s when I heard the hit.

I peered through my fingers, and there was my Smurf literally plastered chest-to-chest with Butch. Alan lost his grip and slid to grab Butch’s waist – and Butch skated on. Holding on for dear life, Alan then slipped down to Butch’s legs – and Butch skated on. Suddenly, Alan lost his grip and with stick and body flat on the ice he hooked butch’s skate with the curve of his cutoff $20 hockey stick – and Butch still skated on, dragging Alan and his stick behind him.

Everyone just watched. This was going to be the record-breaking hat trick goal and another shut out for the Terminators.

Butch wound up, and the shot echoed in the silence. The puck headed straight for the left-hand bottom corner of the cage. But wait! The puck hit the pipe, and the ringing shook the crowd.

The puck then deflected off Alan’s stick and shot into open ice. Smurf defenseman number 14 was doing a pirouette on the blue line, and with pinball precision he accidently slapped the puck into the opposing team’s zone and toward their net. The goalie dropped to his knees – going, going and through his legs – Score!

No triple hat trick goal and a score against the shutout champs.

Our entire bench jumped on Smurf number 14 in ecstasy. Butch jumped on Alan in rage.

At that point everything went black for me. The next thing I remember was Butch in the home penalty box, a two-minute penalty for roughing. Through his face mask I saw his glaring eyes and clenched toothless jaw.

Alan was in the guest penalty box, a two-minute penalty for holding. Through his face mask I saw his dimples and toothy grin.

My Smurf was now a full-fledged hockey player. He had scored his first assist, gotten his first penalty, and was still alive to brag about it.

Mrs. Terminator was on her feet shaking a clenched fist, “Hey, Ref,” she screamed. “I didn’t pay $250 for my kid to sit the bench.”

I just smiled.

At this point, Mrs. Terminator saw me and yelled, “What are you grinning about, Lady? Your kid’s on the bench, too.”

I turned to face her, eye to eye, hockey mom to hockey mom.

“I know,” I quipped smartly, “but I only had to pay 75 bucks for my kid’s seat.”

(I had the privilege of watching these seven-year-old Smurf hockey players grow up and win the Maine 1991 Class A State Hockey Championship. Also, the editor of The Town Line, Roland Hallee, was the assistant coach of that team.)

THE BEST VIEW: Character flaws

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 Jane. We color. We sing. We put our heads on the tables when the teacher reads us a story. We have “Show and Tell,” and we roll in the dirt and swear.”

“You roll in the dirt and swear?”

“I don’t. I swing on the swings and go on the teeter totter, but the boys roll in the dirt and swear.”

“How do you know they swear?”

“The teacher said that they said bad words, and saying bad words is swearing.”

“I understand.”

“Daddy, why do boys roll in the dirt and swear?”

“Well, Norma, boys just do that. I guess it’s a character flaw.”

“What’s a character flaw?”

“A character flaw is something you do that you can’t help doing.”

“Does Sissy have a character flaw?”

“No.”

“Does Mama have a character flaw?”

“Definitely no.”

“Do you have a character flaw?”

“I guess I do.”

“What’s your character flaw?”

“I smoke cigarettes and I drink beer.”

“Don’t feel bad, Daddy. I have character flaws, too.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. I drink beer and I swear.”

“You do not drink beer.”

“Yes. I do. I drink root beer, AND Mama gives it to me.”

“Norma, that’s not real beer,”

“Then why do they call it beer?”

“They just do, but it isn’t real beer. It’s soda”

“I swear.”

“I don’t believe that. Tell me how you swear.”

“Yesterday I called Sissy a “Brat.” Mama said that “Brat” is a bad word.”

“Your mother is right. You should not call your sister a “Brat.”

“Then I told Sissy that she was a brat and that I knew it and she knew it, but I’m not supposed to call her a brat, so I called her a “Stinkeroo.”

“What did your mother say about that?”

“Mama said that was a bad word, too.”

“Okay, Norma, I can see that we might have a teeny weeny flaw here. Not to worry. The question is ‘What are you going to do about it?'”

(Pause)

“Promise not to tell Mama?”

“I promise.”

“I’m thinking up a new name.”

THE BEST VIEW: THE Birthday

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 birthday will not be a traumatic experience.”

“My fortieth birthday will not be a traumatic experience.”

Nothing personal, Shirl, but I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t put all of my eggs into one soap dish.

In reflection I remember that whenever my friends lamented, “I hit the big Four-0 today,” I had expressed sympathy and encouragement but never any real understanding.

After all, I had never prayed for perpetual youth, only to look like perpetual youth. Was my dream going to shatter just as everyone else’s had?

I decided to take the challenge, so on my 39th birthday I began to take stock.

I had begun to notice a slight giggle when I walked past the bathroom scales. When I actually got up enough nerve to weight myself, I heard down right hysterical laughter. Scratch one.

I had noticed crow’s feet near the corner of my eyes, but I decided years ago that if I didn’t smile, these lines wouldn’t show. Upon closer inspection I noticed that these few crow’s feet now map out a coast to coast round trip voyage across the United States. This includes alternate routes using federal, state, and local highways. Scratch two.

I had begun innocently enough pulling out my gray hairs as they appeared. On this day, using my multi-lighted cosmetic mirror, I had a decision to make: remain gray or continue pulling out the gray hair and go bald. Scratch three.

That was the last straw or should I say the last gray hair. This was no longer a challenge – this was WAR.

I could either lie down and be 40, or I could fight and be 39 one more time.

There was no stopping me. I became a driven woman. I lost 13 pounds. I bought a new wardrobe. I permed my hair. I got contact lenses. I had color analysis, and I pierced my ears.

In the grocery store I saw two people who had been my neighbors for nine years. Neither one of them recognized me. One woman even suggested that I change my name.

“Why not?” she said. “You’ve changed everything else.”

I gave that idea considerable thought but decided to save that decision and possible cosmetic surgery for birthday Five-0.

I became desperate. I began scratching out my birth date on calendars. I jogged. I did aerobics. I took vitamins. Nothing worked.

Time ravaged on, and so did I.

Inevitably, I have accepted the fact that the big Four-0 will arrive no matter what I do.

This is mind over body or whatever is left of it.

In these last days I realize that my major battle will be on the morning of my birthday.

My strategy is set. This will be my last hurrah. Here goes:

I will chant in my crystalized shower and meditate facing my “I’d rather be 40 than pregnant” poster taped to the inside of the bathroom door.

When no one is looking, I’ll remove half of the light bulbs from my cosmetic mirror, and I’ll apply my makeup before I put in my contact lenses.

One major question remains, Shirley, “What if even all of this should fail?”

Just in case, I have one more alternate plan.

With shoulders back and head held high, I’ll toss back my hair and say, “Dye it.”

THE BEST VIEW: Fan Letter

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, Return of Old Maine Woman, followed shortly after.

I wrote this fan letter to Glenna Johnson Smith in April 2016. I never received a reply. I didn’t expect one. I just wanted her to know how much I appreciated the positive effect she had had on my writing.

Dear Glenna Johnson Smith,

This is an official fan letter from someone you don’t know but from someone who enjoys all of your writing. I am a retired high school English teacher who retired in 1998 after teaching 28 years at Lawrence High School (Fairfield, ME) and Winslow High School.

One of my dearest friends is S.H., who calls you a friend. (He told me that I could name drop his name.) Even my dear 84-year-old cousin Peg told me she knew you years ago when she lived in Presque Isle.

I was expounding to each of them separately about these two great books of essays that I had just read by Glenna Johnson Smith when each of them said, “I know her.”

At first, I was deflated that the writer I had discovered and knew so well through her essays was known and liked by people whom I knew and respected years before I knew her. Then I realized that I had discovered Glenna Johnson Smith and her essays when I needed them.

I have been a writer since I was seven years old.

I had a male English teacher during my senior year who laughed at a male student and me when we said that we were going to be writers. I was 17 years old.

That summer at the MORNING SENTINEL newspaper I published the first of many of my articles proving that I should only listen to those people who believe in me and my dreams.

I vowed that as a teacher I would nourish my students’ dreams. Only they and God know what they will accomplish. I gave my students the best tools and encouragement I could to help them to reach their goals.

I was a reporter during my college summer vacations at the Waterville MORNING SENTINEL during the mid and late 1960s. That was my very favorite job. Bob Drake, editor, was my mentor. He taught me the power of the written word and to respect that power. I was 18-21 years old.

When I was a freshman at Western Kentucky University, I had the privilege of attending a lecture presented by author Pearl S. Buck. I don’t remember all of that speech, but I do remember that through her speech and presentation I felt empowered as a woman. I was 18 years old.

Author/Poet Maya Angelou spoke at a 100-year-old African American church here in Florida. She was captivating, even mesmerizing, with her words, her voice, her total presentation.

She further impressed us when she came out from behind the stage to watch a 12-year-old girl recite Angelou’s poetry. Angelou became one with the audience and allowed that very talented young lady to be the star, which she rightfully was.

Through her unselfish example, Angelou taught us respect, humility and acceptance. I felt empowered as a person. I was 56 years old.

I was writing and publishing in the 80s and 90s. I got so busy with my life and teaching that I just stopped. My friend asked me why I had stopped writing, and I remember saying, “I just haven’t lived enough.”

She thought that was an odd answer. I didn’t quite understand that answer myself, but it proved true. My writing was taking a turn to the personal essay, and I needed to experience more life in order to share.

Then I became ill with breast cancer. I survived, but I had to take stock of how I wanted to spend the remaining years of my life.

My bucket list held only a few things. One experience was to spend a week at the Maine coast. I ended up doing that for several summers all by myself. It was wonderful. I went everywhere around there enjoying the places and the coast.

The next item on my list was writing. I had so many experiences and stories in my head that I had to get them down on paper. Through your books I discovered ECHOES magazine and started submitting. They accepted my work, and I am very blessed to be publishing again.

Right about now you are wondering what all of this has to do with Glenna Johnson Smith.

On one of those coastal Maine vacations, I discovered a book called Old Maine Woman by Glenna Johnson Smith. I devoured the essays. I then bought Return of Old Maine Woman and devoured those essays as well.

By the end of the second book, I didn’t know Glenna Johnson Smith personally, but I felt like part of her life. I had traveled with her on her journey; I appreciated her sense of humor; and I respected her willingness to expose her inner most feelings. Glenna Johnson Smith was a kindred spirit. I was 66 years old.

I am 68 years old now, nearly 69. I am writing again. I am publishing again. I am living my writing dream.

Thank you, Glenna Johnson Smith. You inspired me to keep writing. I will never be too old to tell my stories. You empowered me as a writer, and I promise that I will pay it forward.

Readers, please contact someone who has made a positive difference in your life. Make a telephone call, write a letter, send a text, send an email, or just give a hug. Simply say, “Thank you.” They will be grateful…and so will you.

THE BEST VIEW: Shhh! Can you keep a secret?

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 neighbors do in the old-time movies. I read published books of famous writers’ letters edited by biographers and relatives.

These letters are very personal, and the authors most likely never expected their personal thoughts to be revealed to the world. That is probably why most of these publications appear after the death of the famous people.

I first got hooked on reading famous authors’ mail when a friend of mine gave me a book called “The Letters of Ernest Hemingway 1907—1922.” This Volume One of letters begins with his short letters with misspellings to his Papa when Hemingway was eight years old to his letters upon his arrival in Paris when he was age 23.

I had decided to read just a few letters each day, but as this young man experienced life and matured into the man who became the famous Ernest Hemingway, I just read right through to the end. Footnotes by the editor fill in the information educating the reader as to whom the letters are addressed and the relationships between them and Hemingway.

Knowing the ultimate famous life and death of Hemingway allows the letter reader to recognize the “dramatic foreshadowing” of Hemingway’s experiences.

Recently, I have been reading the letters of the author John le Carre’ (real name David Cornwell) “A Private Spy,” edited by his son Tim Cornwell.

Whether someone enjoys the le Carre’ books, which are mostly about spies and espionage, is entirely irrelevant. These letters show the real thoughts and emotions of this man with his wives, his lovers, his family, his friends, his enemies and with the other famous writers and actors who are involved in his many successes and failures.

Again, knowing about this author’s books and his death lets me enjoy reading the letter writer’s intimate thoughts.

I am only 300 pages into this 600 plus page tome, and I haven’t even gotten into his own life as an MI5 and MI6 British spy. Call me crazy, but this is a page turner for me.

I think I know why I enjoy reading letters. I was a letter writer in the day of letter writing. When I was of upper elementary and junior high school age, I had pen pals. I had a subscription to a magazine called “American Girl.” This magazine was not affiliated with the modern “American Girl” magazine and dolls.

Girls wrote short letters to the editor, and other girls could respond and become pen pals. I got a couple of pen pals that way, but the pen pal I remember most was a missionary’s daughter. We corresponded for a couple of years. She was a British girl who lived in India.

Back then mail to and from different countries took a very long time, so there weren’t that many letters exchanged. We wrote mostly about school and after school activities. Still, it was a thrill to receive a letter from India. I wonder what the postman thought when he saw those foreign air mail stamps?

My favorite pen pal was a girl who went to summer camp with me. Our letters were not really very interesting, but we wrote backwards and had to put the letters up to a mirror in order to read them. We wrote every week just because of the novelty of writing backwards.

One of my girlfriends was a pen pal to Annette Funicello, one of Disney’s first Mouseketeers. I wanted to be a pen pal with Annette, also, but I figured Annette wouldn’t want to be a pen pal to two people living in Waterville, Maine, so I didn’t try.

I understand now that those letters were probably fan letters sent to all, and I could have been another pen pal after all.

Of course, with letter writing, one had to have the prettiest stationery with matching envelopes. For 25 cents I bought a note pad or a box of uniquely designed writing paper. I also received stationery for birthdays and Christmases and even bought some out of my allowance, which was 50 cents per week.

Then there were the sealing wax sticks in multiple color choices. I melted the wax on the “V” of the envelope closure and pushed down a sealing wax seal stamp to ensure that no one but the intended recipient would read the letter.

I had different designs of stamps, but my favorite was my initial “N.” Somehow this stamp made the letter more personal AND mysterious, at least to my young mind.

I am sure that the authors whose published books of letters I read now did not use pretty stationery and sealing wax stamps.

I am also very sure that no one has saved any of my letters to be published in a 600-page tome after my death for all to read.

In 1965 during the first week in my first college journalism class, the professor told us never to write anything down on paper for anyone to read that we did not want to haunt us later in life.

I believed him.

He also told us in that class that in the future we would be reading our newspapers not on paper but through the use of a machine.

I DID NOT believe that.

Yet, look at me now – I read The Town Line newspaper on my home computer.

THE BEST VIEW: “Make My Day”

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!” he adds in a deep Southern drawl as he drives away.

He made my day.

I like these shoes, too. In fact, they are my “this is going to be a great day” bright yellow Crocs shoes. On a sunny day they complete a matching outfit with the brightness of the sun; on a personally questionable day they put an extra bit of sunshine in my attitude; and on a cloudy day such as today they are a slice of sunshine breaking up the gray of the day.

Besides, these yellow shoes also show a certain pizzazz against the water in the puddles I am forced to wade. And…plastic shoes are waterproof to boot, pun intended.

This incident causes me to think about compliments in general and how they make us feel. I remember hearing my mother say, “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.” Through trials and many errors, I now accept her warning.

A compliment that I will always remember was when my kindergarten teacher told me I had shiny blonde hair. My father was a tow head blond, and my mother was a beautiful brunette. My hair color was in-between and what people called dirty blonde.

At five years old I thought dirty blonde sounded not very pretty, so when my teacher asked me to ask my mother what shampoo she used to make my hair so shiny, I found out and proudly announced that she used an egg shampoo.

Many years later after I had taught for several years, I saw that kindergarten teacher in a jewelry store. I introduced myself.

Apparently, we had been one of her first classes. She remembered my name and, as unbelievable as it sounds, asked, “Didn’t you have blonde hair?”

I felt the glow of her original compliment once again.

When I was young, my family rented a camp on China Lake. There was a young woman who lived in another camp nearby. She was Native American and had beautiful long black hair and pretty eyes.

I never knew her name. I called her “The Pretty Lady.”

We rented that camp for several summers. The Pretty Lady got married and stayed at the camp with her husband and her mother. I quietly accompanied my mother whenever she visited the family. My mother had told her what I called her, so I remained shy about talking to her

Many years later when I was much older, I saw this woman in a grocery store. She had short black hair, but her face was unmistakable. She had seemed so much older than I when I was young, but I realized that she had been a very young woman, newlywed, when I knew her.

I walked down the aisle to speak with her. “You don’t know me and probably won’t remember me, but when I was young, my family rented a camp near you. I used to call you The Pretty Lady.”

She gave me a questioning look and asked, “You recognized me?”

“Oh, yes,” I told her. I should have added but didn’t, “You are just as pretty as ever.”

She looked straight at me, and with the same soft smile and pretty eyes, she answered, “I remember.”

After I retired from teaching, I worked several years at a bookstore. Because I had taught high school English students, the managers decided that I would make a good facilitator for their new young children’s programs.

Not having taught little children before, I called upon a professional preschool teacher I knew for advice. She told me to read them a story, give them snacks, and let them glue and glitter something, and I would be a success.

My first group of preschoolers came through. There were nine four-year-olds and one three-year-old. I was told the three-year-old was very precocious and fit right in with the older children.

After I read them the story, we had a very animated question and answer discussion. The three-year-old sat very quietly listening and watching the other children’s actions. Ending the talk, I asked if there were any more questions.

The three-year-old raised her hand.

“Yes. What is your question?” I asked.

This beautiful little girl with short legs dangling from a too big chair responded, “My name is Sylvie.”

She held up three fingers. “I’m three years old.”

She pointed to her foot. “I have new shoes, and I came to school to have fun.”

I waited a few seconds taking in her innocence and candor. Then I did what every lawyer says never to do. I asked a question for which I did not know the answer.

“Wonderful, Sylvie, and are you having fun today?” I asked.

Sylvie scrunched up her face in deep thought. Then she relaxed, smiled, and answered, “Yes!”

She made my day.

THE BEST VIEW: “My Big Sister”

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 was so excited that I was born.

Everything went downhill after that. I spit up on her. I peed on her. I bit her finger with my first tooth. I was an overall pain in the butt from what I could see, but she laughed about these experiences, and I felt even closer to her.

Sis was quite a bit older than I. I was what they called a “surprise” baby. I always liked that…a SURPRISE! Surprise or not, Sis decided that I was going to behave, to be literate and not to be an embarrassment to her.

That was a major undertaking, but she was up to the challenge, and I had better be. She made me pick up my toys, did jigsaw puzzles with me, held my hand when we listened to scary radio shows like “The Shadow,” taught me to recite my ABC’s and to count to 100.

These were all games to me and fun, but she knew what she was doing. Even when I made a mistake in the 90’s when reciting my numbers, Sis let me start over again at number one and listened patiently so that I felt success and not failure.

Then it happened. She grew up. I watched her walk down the aisle to receive her college diploma and told myself, “I am going to do that, too.”

Sis got married, moved out of state, and didn’t come home to visit for two long years. My father kept an account at one of the best dress shops in town for her birthday and Christmas presents. He paid so much a week, and there was quite a sum of money there.

My dad, Sis and I walked into the store together. Dad was so proud of her. “This is Mrs. Clark,” he told the sales lady. “Please show her whatever she wants and put it on my bill.”

What a great time we had. Sis tried on more clothes than I had ever seen, and she bought me a red plaid kilt with the money. She hadn’t forgotten me, after all.

“Have you known Mr. Best long?” the sales lady asked.

“Yes,” Sis answered.

Then, out of nowhere the sales lady added, “What is he to you, anyway—your Sugar Daddy?”

Even at my young age I got the picture. Attitude, intonation, and the words “Sugar Daddy” were all very clear.

I just stood there.

This was 1958. Sis was young, pretty, college educated, married, and successful in a business career in a man’s world. This woman had the patience of Job and the strength of our mother. This was MY BIG SISTER.

Apparently, this sales lady had no idea with whom she was sparring…and I was not going to warn her.

The scene appeared Hollywood scripted and in slow motion. I had noticed a slight tightening of my sister’s shoulders upon hearing the woman’s rude remark.

I was sure the sales lady noticed, also, because at that point the lady put her right hand on her right hip, raised her left eyebrow, and gave the slightest smile of great satisfaction.

My sister was viewing her new outfit and herself in the full-length mirror. I was behind her on her left. The sales lady was behind her on her right.

I watched my sister’s image in the mirror. Sis moved her gaze upward from the mirror image of herself and turned her eyes to the mirror image of the sales lady.

A smile now formed on her mouth.

This was my first and probably the best lesson in timing in my life.

Sis pivoted around slowly to her right and stared directly into the eyes of the sales lady.

“No,” she answered, young pearly whites shining.” He’s my father.”

I loved it.

THE BEST VIEW: What do I miss?

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, I said, “I should say what a handsome little boy.”

The boy smiled again and reached out his arms to me.

Surprised but pleased, I asked, “Do you mind if I hold your baby?”

“No, go right ahead,” she answered reaching towards me so that I could take the child into my arms.

I held on tightly, and he held tightly onto me. He put his little arms around my neck and hugged me with his soft cheek against mine.

After a sweet hug he adjusted his body on my hip so that he was again looking at me and smiling.

“I haven’t held a baby in 30 years,” I told her. “Thank you for sharing your baby with me.”

“You’re welcome,” she answered. “He really likes you.”

Warm from the hug and still smiling, I said, “I’m glad… because I really like him.”

* * * * * *

“What do you miss?” the young man asks the old woman.

Ah, now, let me think.

I miss not the washing of the second floor windows but the climbing of the ladder.

I miss not the city of my youth but the bicycling through the beautiful streets.

I miss not the birthdays and the holidays but the people who were there and are here no more.

I miss not the daily visits but the cat Olivia and the dog Scooter, whom I loved and who loved me.

I miss not the ice and the snow but the ice skating, the sledding, and the after sitting by the warm stove sipping my mother’s hot chocolate.

I miss not the dream house of a young mother but the toddler son running through the home laughing and playing.

“So, you do miss?” asks the young man of the old woman.

“Oh, yes,” answers the old woman.

“I miss.”

THE BEST VIEW: From the “Catbird Seat”

by Norma Best Boucher

My cat Olivia loves to bird watch.

In her wild outside cat days, I suppose she hunted a few birds, but she was more content catching lizards and snakes that didn’t take off into the air in the middle of the chase. I found many heads of these dead reptiles at my back door…but never a bird.

Now, in her elder years, she sits for hours on the screened-in porch and watches the myriad of feathered friends as they flit and feed at the large hanging bird feeder.

Many of the same birds return daily. Some birds guard as a mate feeds. Other birds wait patiently for their turn, while others squeeze in to be the first to snatch the best seeds.

Olivia lies silently on the sill watching them, their colors and their lives.

The bird feeder is perched from a tree on a new three-foot metal holder that is meant to deter squirrels and raccoons. The previous holder was too short. Squirrels hung from the feeder and flicked seed from the feeding holes, and raccoons tried to lift the feeder off the bracket.

Now the weight of the full feeder is too much for the raccoons to lift, but the tenacious thieves never give up trying. While a squirrel or raccoon tries to outsmart the feeder, other squirrels and raccoons congregate under the feeder to grab the seeds as they fall to the ground.

There is usually a frenzy. Olivia loves watching these antics…so do I.

I remember Olivia as a feral kitten. Her innocent playfulness made me smile and laugh with enjoyment.

I’d yell, “Kitty, Kitty,” and wave a white paper towel letting her know that I had treats for her. She’d be sweet with me but was a fighter with feline trespassers and protected her territory with ruthless behavior.

Later, too old to win her fights and blind in one eye, she finally relented and became a house cat guarding her new territory from unseen marauders from her perch on the bed.

Today, Olivia, at age 18, sits on the sill in the screened in porch and watches safely the feral life she once enjoyed. We no longer play as we did, but she can be seen sometimes racing through the rooms chasing imaginary foes.

She is never very far from me, sitting with me, touching me lightly with her tail, or just nestling close to me as I sleep.

“A senior citizen,” the young vet calls her.

From my own catbird seat, I smile.

You see, we have grown older – together…Olivia and I.