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Marty’s Memories: Momentum by Marty Trower

Spending summers on Chebeague was always an adventure. Meeting up with friends we didn’t see the rest of the year was fun, although I did get a lot of questions about being Canadian that made me uncomfortable. Did we celebrate Christmas the same way as they did? Did we have to buy a whole new wardrobe to come down here? Of course, I wanted and tried to be like my American friends, but I was different and my accent always gave me away. I realize now that those differences just added texture to the agonizing process of growing up. The strangest part for me was being around boys and having boys as friends. I went to an all- girls school, and I was shy around boys. The saving grace—the universal language—was humor, and it bound us all together. We rode around in cars at night as teenagers, and some island boys imitated “Bert and I” stories, exaggerating the Maine accent and the simple, direct way of looking at life. Stevie Ross was a master at this. I remember him at the wheel of his car, turning around to my Canadian friend and me in the backseat and saying, “You

know, people think we’re kind of backward around here.” That made it even funnier.

The momentum of growing up in fun and anticipating more possibilities out there ahead came to an abrupt halt when Stevie was killed in a freak accident that summer of 1964. I remember seeing the bright sky and bouncing clouds and feeling no solace whatsoever from the heat of the sun. We looked at each other and couldn’t understand. The air around us seemed hollow, meaningless. There would more painful jolts ahead, and I realize now in my “sunset years” that time and acceptance heal. That knowledge is hard to keep in mind, today, as the island collectively and in their own ways grieve for an extraordinary, much loved teacher who has left us way too soon. Kristin Westra left us changed, maybe better people, for just having known her, loved her, and being loved by her in return.

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NOVEMBER 2018 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR