Dear Editor:

Many of us read big city newspapers as well as small town ones. What they each have in common at their core is the desire to share information, both facts and opinions, providing a place where all can be heard. We can challenge each other, learning new things or confirming what we already know.

This past year the common thread for our survival has been finding some anchor or purpose. I’ve struggled with this, worrying each day as my husband left for work in healthcare, thanking God when he came home safe at night.

Being a historian by profession led me to begin and keep a time capsule. An important, treasured part of that effort is Joe Gelarden’s columns. They are held chronologically in one of my albums. From “Time to hunker down” to “Week 50: Winter of Discontent?” this “old scribbler” shares facts, opinions and observations like a neighbor passing time with you on your front porch. I hope that we can all learn that our beliefs can’t ever be so fragile that they can’t be challenged by anyone who doesn’t share them. Maybe those ideas change and maybe they stay the same. But we should always be prepared for either.

I am so grateful for Mr. Gelarden’s efforts, whether I agree or disagree.

Laura Lee Keating

Cortlandt Manor, New York

and East Boothbay