mission accomplished

Two years ago today, I promised my sweetheart a lobster roll from Red’s Eats, Wiscasset, Maine which may or may not be the #1 Lobster Roll in ALL OF NEW ENGLAND; however, our day did not go exactly as planned.

Instead of standing in line in “the prettiest village in Maine,” we found ourselves in an odyssey of blood, broken glass, and twisted metal along the side of Route 495 after being struck from behind at 60 mph in stopped traffic. We were miles from anywhere. Everything unfamiliar.

The state troopers arrived to take our statements. The paramedics arrived to take us to the ER. The tow truck came to clear away the wreckage of what was my car. Still, it could have been so much worse.

In the back of the ambulance, John did what he always does: He took my hand and made me smile.

“No lobster rolls tonight?”

And in that moment, I found myself all the more grateful for every moment that is my life. John says he’ll go with me anywhere, and he does. We do it together. We find our way. What a ride.

Every time we pass the accident site, John says he can still see pieces of my car off to the side, and while I don’t know if that’s exactly true, I do know this year was different. For the first time, rather than driving along 495 outside of Worcester in the same frenetic Friday afternoon traffic pattern, our GPS inexplicably rerouted our car. Correction, HIS car—we had already decided not to tempt fate and take my Mini again.

Even though we had no idea where we were going, sometimes you just have to trust and let go. We may not be able to see the other side, yet we believe. We know everything is waiting. It’s been there the whole time.

When you get in line at Red’s, you know it will be a long wait because the process of making each hand-made roll is a delicate balance, but some things are just worth the wait—in life, in love, in lobster.

Yesterday John got his lobster roll. Mission accomplished.

thanks for reading ~

When Women Were Birds: murmuration, memoir, meditation on Monhegan is FULL

coming soon… . ..2024 retreats on Monhegan AND in the Finger Lakes… . ..

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