March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hello, Bangor! After what seemed to be an eternity, I came to see you a short time ago, and you looked good. To indicate how long since I have spent any time there — the Veterans Remembrance Bridge had just been completed.

Bangor, time has passed, and it is plain to see you have been blessed. Two new memorials, an airport whose reputation throughout New England has larger ones envious, as well as blossoming with new businesses, buildings and expanding programs. As you step into the new year, with all this heady stuff going on, relationships may be taken for granted. Mind some friendly advice from someone who now lives in a city that, by and large, seems to have forgotten how to enjoy what it has? Stop. Look. Listen. Enjoy. Count and enjoy the blessings of those around you.

For two years prior to his death, I became too busy for my father. Caught up in my own problems, I never thought about him having any. He had always been there, and I thought he always would be. It took him having a heart attack for me to realize how far apart I had let us become. I went home, our relationship was restored, and I made plans. My children, whom he had not seen for two years, were going to be able to see him. But before that could happen, my father died. He was my father — my friend whose advice, companionship and strength I miss daily. I had forgotten to count my blessings in him.

Dear Bangor, with all that is going on around you in this coming year, don’t fail to count your blessings in ways other than economic and urban renewal. Remember in the years to come to count all of your blessings and to cherish them. The renewal that is strong in your heart will bring strength to your city as well. Charles H. Hendren Manchester, N.H.


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