½ Tank #27

We set out from the church in Kittery, ME and called my Aunt Lynn to see when we could arrive at her house. She told us that we could take our time and whenever we got there would be great. I was grateful that we didn’t need to rush there, but I also didn’t want to dawdle too much because I wanted to have a decent amount of time to spend with her, since I had never met her before and she was really only available that one day. So we stopped at a neat “junk” store and a cute antique store, but I was against turning off the main road to try to find a view of the ocean and a restaurant, which I think angered Hannah a bit. When we got to Augusta we were supposed to call Lynn, but I didn’t have any reception on the phone. Luckily she had left a voicemail earlier, which I was able to listen to, and she gave more directions there.

When we arrived in New Sharon, we tried to call Lynn again, as instructed, but we still didn’t have reception. So instead of using the cell we stopped at the Sandy River General Store and used a payphone. When Lynn answered, she knew exactly where I was and said she would drive over and meet us so we could follow her back to her house. I wasn’t nervous really about meeting her...until Hannah started saying, “Is that her?” every time a new car came into view, which was quite a bit. I decided I wasn’t going to watch for Lynn, but Hannah kept her search going. I can’t even describe it well enough to accurately show how humorous the situation was. But trust me, it was pretty funny. Finally a car pulled in and we knew it was Lynn because she was staring at our car with a big grin on her face. Now, I was sitting in the passenger’s seat, and she pulled up on my side. All three of us got out of the cars, and Lynn gave me a quick hug and then hurried off to the driver’s side to see Hannah. I was kind of perplexed that she was so eager to hug Hannah, but I thought it was nice of her to make us both feel so welcome. When Lynn got to the back of our car, I think she finally looked at Hannah and realized that she had just hugged her niece, and wasn’t heading towards her. She paused a little bit and you could see the light going on in her mind. She still went to Hannah for a hug, but then came back to me for another hug. She said I looked just like my mom the last time she saw her (she was 17...so yeah, I still look like I’m 17...I know I’ll appreciate that when I’m older).

We caravanned back to Lynn’s home after our quick hellos, and there we met her dog, Chelsea, and had a delicious dinner. The three of us talked a lot that night, mostly about family and life [and how important it is to not hold onto anger, because it will destroy your relationships, especially with your kids, if I should have them]. I think talking with Lynn was really helpful for both Hannah and I, and I know it has encouraged Hannah to try to get in contact with her dad and try to mend that relationship. (Thanks, Lynn!!) We also found out that Lynn has a moose friend named Charlie who sometimes comes right up to her windows and drives Chelsea nuts. Hannah and I liked the sound of that, since we were determined to see a moose while in Maine, but unfortunately he didn’t come around while we were there.

That night we said our goodbyes to Lynn since she had school the next morning and we weren’t sure that we’d see her. But the next morning I woke up to hear footsteps in the house. I figured it had to have been noon, well past when Lynn was leaving, so I thought someone else was in the house. I got up, checked my watch, and discovered it was 10 minutes before Lynn had to leave. I went out to see her again and she left us directions to my Aunt Pat’s house and her son’s phone number, since he now lives in Washington too. I had a hard time parting with her, I think because we really only got to spend that one night hanging out. I’m pretty determined to make it back to Maine sometime soon, though, so I’ll get to see them all again.

Hannah got up right after Lynn left and we made breakfast. While I was doing dishes and Hannah was putting food away, she noticed that the light in the fridge was off just before the water in the sink stopped running. The electricity had gone out, and just before we were going to take showers. So what did we do? We went back to bed. Yup. For a few hours. When I finally woke up again I rolled towards Hannah and opened my eyes to find her staring at me. It was rather creepy. And funny.

The electricity was back on when we arose from our nap, so we got cleaned up, made some sandwiches, and packed ourselves back into the car.

God bless, over and out.
~M

Oh yeah, and if you want to look through more pics, go here and here.