March 29, 2024
Letter

Heroes close to home

On the night of Sept. 27, our family experienced the trauma of having our elderly mother lost in the woods in Brooklin in the cold rain. That night was a nightmare. When my sister called the Hancock County sheriff in the evening when we realized that our mother was missing, we had no idea what a heroic response there would be from so many corners. Many people came and searched in the cold, black woods in the pouring rain until 4 a.m., and then again a couple of hours later until she was found.

One knows that firefighters, game wardens, sheriffs’ deputies, policemen, search and rescue teams, and volunteers do good deeds, but the enormity of those deeds really hits home when one is the recipient of them firsthand. My mother would have died out there had she not been found. We simply could not have saved her ourselves. We would not have known where to go or how to go about it. It was miserably wet that night. That so many people were willing to come and search for her in the cold rain, walking into those black woods to save her, shows us where our nearest heroes are.

Our appreciation of heroes starts right here at home.

Elisabeth S. Molly

Orono


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like