Lived Here All My Life....Here's Why I Never Left... (Portland: house, school)

[mollysmiles]

A voice speaks from beyond and begs for this new thread!!

It is a wonderful idea, and I'm not sure how we didn't come up with it sooner! There are those of us who post and read who have lived here our entire lives. Some of us at one point or another may have thought about moving out of state. Some of us may have known that there was no other place to live, ever!

Today's question: what made YOU stay?

(the voice from beyond giggles!)

[mollysmiles]

So, I'm going to share something with all of you.

I found this forum last spring after my hubby received a request to apply for a job in--let's say Meanland. (Seriously, I feel bad mentioning the state by name) I googled the town, and found the city-data forum. I liked how the town sounded. I looked up everything I could think of, and didn't find ONE thing that I thought maybe I couldn't live with. Not living by the ocean was HUGE, but I am someone who flies by the seat of my pants, so it seemed surmountable. Well, after reading about this little city on city-data, one day I stumbled onto the forum. I immediately went to Meanland's forum. After doing a little reading, I decided to post a thread for info about the town I was interested in. It got very little response--2 replies I think. I stayed in Meanland's forum and kept reading and reading. The more I read, the less I liked. So many members we complaining over and over about new people moving into their state. And they were mean. very mean. It got so that when the time came to go and visit Meanland, I worried the entire trip out on the plane!! Now, we stayed for almost a week. We looked at property, hubby had his interview, we drove around A LOT! I loved the people I met, everyone was wonderful to us. BUT, I couldn't get the posts I'd read out of my mind. People had posted that when they first went out and visited, everyone was nice, but after moving, it all changed. Ultimately, we made the decision NOT to move. What seemed like a great adventure at first was tainted by remarks I saw that people had made about newcomers. I knew without a doubt that would not happen in Maine. When I got off the plane in Portland, it was late, and I was tired. The man I had sat beside had been flying for 24 hours from Australia, to surprise his best friend on his birthday. The man's wife had arranged everything, and had no idea he was coming. I saw him again at baggage claim. He's gotten turned around somehow, and an employee at the airport had walked with him back to baggage claim. He looked me straight in the eye and said "you live in the greatest place on earth! my best friend's wife from Maine flies me here for his birthday, this man walked me back here because I am so tired he didn't want me to get lost, and you talked to me and we shared Ipods since Chicago!" I will never forget the look in his eyes when he said "you live in the greatest place on earth". He's right.

So, I thought I wanted to move elsewhere for a few years, do something new, have an "adventure". For now, I'm not going anywhere. I don't believe for a second that anywhere in this world offers me what I have in Maine every day. And every day I come into this forum, and you prove it to me over and over.

[mainebrokerman]

i've been offered other jobs out of state, and thought about them seriously, a personal challenge to triumph in unfamiliar territory, but when i got to listing the pro's and cons, and what was really important to me, i decided to stay.
today was a fine example of why i love it here,,,a beautiful fall day,,,, i travelled over 250 miles, went into four businesses, and most of the folks i either walked by, and even gassing up the car,,said a friendly hello, the traffic,,is very light (especially compared to any city) , i saw the ocean, mountains, lakes, and farmland, all in one day, and all i could have taken pictures, if i had a camera with me,,
i cant imagine living in a big city,,or raising a family in a big city,,
maine may not be paradise for many or most,,,but i believe,,it comes close, (to me anyways)

[mainewannabe]

was it florida??? Yeah they do have a contingency of wide-smile folks. But... oh yeah, it's all different when you live here. You are under the thumb and then you can be under the wing. IF you won't fit well 'under the thumb' .. you don't get the wing. Independent people do not do well here.

Yall save me a nice spot in Maine. I'm really tired of being alone here. I'm really NOT, there ARE nice people .. but not enough to make it worth your while.

Save me a nice spot ..... I'm going to be there before you know it.

[Ihate the big"O"]

Reading this made me teary eyed. Thanks for sharing

[AlisonL]

Its taken me this long to convince dh to move out of Maine. Stubborn man!!

[lovemaine]

Awww, Molly! You got me all choked up! Great post! I absolutely can't wait for the day when I come home to Maine!

[dramamama6685]

Originally Posted by lovemaine

Awww, Molly! You got me all choked up! Great post! I absolutely can't wait for the day when I come home to Maine!

That's funny I have actually said that same thing. Just to show you how friendly people can be, here is a little story that I'd like to share.

Hubby and I were wandering around one evening in downtown Eastport after 5 and most of the shops were closed. We here someone working inside a quonset hut and hubby peeks in the window. The man came out and we started talking. He restores very old vehicles, 30's and 40's, and took us inside to see his pride and joy. He is also a very accomplished woodworker and talked to us for a while about his other projects. He then proceded to invite us to his place anytime we'd like to stop by to see a tree house that he was building. It's in my pics and he and the wife were so welcoming. Of course, this could never happen where I am and just reinforces our decision to move "home" to Maine!

( I know I ramble, right? )

[Acadianlion]

I am not from Maine. My mother was born in Ellsworth, and my great grandfather was one of the first mill owners in Ellsworth, but I am "from away". I first came to Maine when I was six months old...my parent's brought me here as they came to stay in the family cottage by the ocean every year after they were married. As I grew up, I went through a love-hate affair with that little cottage, because it was at one lonely for a little boy, and at the same time, the birds, rocks, clams, star fish and marine wildlife were exciting.

After college I taught in the inner city and then obeyed my generation's "duty" and entered the military. I was married by that time, and when I left the service I settled my family on Cape Cod. I actually thought I had the best of both worlds: the ocean and the civilization of a growing metropolis. That all ended and I came to live one summer in the little cottage that I had had so many mixed feelings about as a child. But I had learned by experience that Maine was really where I belonged.

Things progressed. I worked, and grew in Maine. I developed my own business because that was what the pathway to independence required. Eventually, my daughter moved here and finished her school at the univerity, (High Distinction! Good girl!).

She graduated in January and her first plan was to "hang out" and wait for the summer. She intended to get a job in the tourist industry for the season and then make a trip around the country.

"No," I said. "I too well know what happens to pretty little girls who 'hang out' in Bar Harbor all winter. You may well want to settle here, but first you need to take your trip and have some other experiences." So I picked her up and we went to tour Florida. In Naples she met her "home", and got to work.

She had her tour, eventually met her husband and has a family now. She is settled in Virginia, but is actively making plans to come to live permanently in Maine.

And she is ready. She has had experience other places, seen other opportunities and eventually will move to Maine, having realized that with its plusses and cons, this is where she should be.

But to really appreciate what Maine is, I believe it is necessary to experience something else. IT isn't all things to all people.

[mollysmiles]

ok....teary now....thanks Acadainloin

you're not "from away".....you're a Mainer...oops, Mainah