Page 70 - issue
P. 70
CLOSE CALL by Galia Berry
A MIRACLE
oday I was witness to a miracle.
I was driving my car on Knights
Hill Road from Bridgton to
Lovell in western Maine, think-
Ting about what a good day I’d
had. Normally one doesn’t think
happy thoughts after spending
$250 on car repairs, but our
brakes needed replacing and I’d gotten
estimates that were $150 higher. I was
happy to come back to rural Maine,
where I know our mechanic and his
family on a first-name basis. I also knew
we’d be treated fairly and wouldn’t be
overcharged.
Paul is a good, honest man. He is a
U.S. military veteran fighting for recog-
nition of his disabilities. He was
exposed to very high doses of radiation
without adequate protection in the
Marshall Islands during military exer-
cises. Many in his unit are dead from
cancers related to this exposure, and
Paul has already had several cancers.
The government is refusing to
acknowledge the military’s careless-
ness, because they don’t want to com-
pensate the affected vets exposed dur-
ing the testing. We usually discuss his
latest lobbying efforts and meetings
with senators and other politicos on
behalf of his military buddies.
I had also stopped at Renys depart-
ment store to buy birthday gifts for my
grandchildren. Renys is a Maine institu-
tion with stores across the state, remi-
niscent of the old Woolworth’s depart-
ment stores of the 1950s. Not a huge
selection, but they have a little of every-
thing and just enough that you can
almost always find what you need. As
someone who gets overwhelmed by toy
mega-stores, I find that it’s always easy
to find just the right gift at Renys at a
fair price. I was happy to get this errand
out of the way, with great results.
So I was driving home via Knights
Hill Road, and I was the only car on the
road. Suddenly, from the opposite
direction, a minivan traveling at full
speed was approaching me – but on
the wrong side of the road! My side of
the road! He was maybe 50 feet away,
and I didn’t know if I could avoid a
head-on collision. Before that could
66 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
A MIRACLE
oday I was witness to a miracle.
I was driving my car on Knights
Hill Road from Bridgton to
Lovell in western Maine, think-
Ting about what a good day I’d
had. Normally one doesn’t think
happy thoughts after spending
$250 on car repairs, but our
brakes needed replacing and I’d gotten
estimates that were $150 higher. I was
happy to come back to rural Maine,
where I know our mechanic and his
family on a first-name basis. I also knew
we’d be treated fairly and wouldn’t be
overcharged.
Paul is a good, honest man. He is a
U.S. military veteran fighting for recog-
nition of his disabilities. He was
exposed to very high doses of radiation
without adequate protection in the
Marshall Islands during military exer-
cises. Many in his unit are dead from
cancers related to this exposure, and
Paul has already had several cancers.
The government is refusing to
acknowledge the military’s careless-
ness, because they don’t want to com-
pensate the affected vets exposed dur-
ing the testing. We usually discuss his
latest lobbying efforts and meetings
with senators and other politicos on
behalf of his military buddies.
I had also stopped at Renys depart-
ment store to buy birthday gifts for my
grandchildren. Renys is a Maine institu-
tion with stores across the state, remi-
niscent of the old Woolworth’s depart-
ment stores of the 1950s. Not a huge
selection, but they have a little of every-
thing and just enough that you can
almost always find what you need. As
someone who gets overwhelmed by toy
mega-stores, I find that it’s always easy
to find just the right gift at Renys at a
fair price. I was happy to get this errand
out of the way, with great results.
So I was driving home via Knights
Hill Road, and I was the only car on the
road. Suddenly, from the opposite
direction, a minivan traveling at full
speed was approaching me – but on
the wrong side of the road! My side of
the road! He was maybe 50 feet away,
and I didn’t know if I could avoid a
head-on collision. Before that could
66 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
