A few days ago, one of my childhood friends lost her mom. A few days later, she lost her first cousin. I sat back and reflected about the time when we lived across from each other on the Overlook Road in Windham, Maine, during the 70’s on Highland Lake.
Our families were similarly structured. She had brothers and one sister as did I. Our sisters were friends. Her grandmother lived next door. Mine would visit often. When her large Irish/Italian extended family would be regulars in the summer, especially around the 4Th of July, I was thrilled to be invited over to hang out when they came. It was during that time that I met her cousin, Kim, who was our age. We would usually fight over Kim. Remember the saying , ‘Three’s a crowd’?
We would play Barbies, ride our bikes, and visit the neighbors. The highlight of the day was going down to the beach. I think we were outside about 7 hours each day! We knew every one by name on the Overlook Road. A rarity for people today!
One of the major differences was that my family lived there year round, while her family were summer residents. Our move to our camp, which had no plumbing for a period of time, was supposed to be temporary situation. It lasted 4 years! Life during that period was extremely challenging at times. My dad had good intentions, but battled an alcohol addiction which made our lives not easy. It wasn't easy for him either. He loved us dearly, but his disease took over all reasoning. It left us with little to no money. I don’t know how my mom managed not to get completely depressed. She probably was, but would never let us know. She shared what she had even when it was very little. My dad was the same way.
My mom would throw together the best of what she could find which usually consisted of pork, chicken, or ground beef, potatoes, and a vegetable. We knew that regardless of how broke we were, we could usually count on dinner every night with those three staples! Our treat of the night was when she'd make her No-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies!
There’s actually 4 items here that I made because I love my stovetop stuffing mix! Notice my portions are kind of off!!
I hated to see summer come to a close because that meant I’d have to say goodbye to our summer neighbors and face the cold winter months on the lake with no lights on across the road and no friend! I couldn’t wait until June! With no cable television, internet, or cell phones my sister, brother and I had to keep amused with simple things that surrounded us. My brother, Alan, obtained an old ski-doo one winter that generated hours of fun! He worked at our dads garage and every Friday when he got paid, he would buy me a small present. He is ten years my senior, so he took it upon himself to spoil me. The year he had the ski-doo, he got us matching snowmobile suits! It was an escape from the doldrums of winter. I couldn't wait to get home from school where he would occasionally meet me at the end of our road with the sled!
You can imagine my joy when my friend and her family returned and announced that they would be year-round residents a couple of years later! There was no longer a dark house across the road ! Friday nights consisted of watching the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family. The world back then was so different. Very little anxiety about crime, however, our moms would still turn the outside light on and watch us to ensure a safe return at the end of the evening.
Even though those were economically and emotionally rough years for my family, we were fortunate to have lived in a gorgeous area of Maine that brought us much joy. We made our own fun.
Little did I know that my future husband, David, visited his grandmother during that same time period on the same lake!
As I said at the outset, my friend lost her mom a few days ago and her cousin, Kim, three days later. She sent me this picture of herself infront of our run down camp that we called our home. She came across it while going through her mother’s things.
My parents did their best to always make people feel welcome. They took in friends from time to time who were experiencing tough times themselves. There is always someone who has it harder out there.
Generosity and kindness is lacking in today’s world. It certainly wasn’t lacking in the little camp on Overlook Road!
