Tucked away on the rocky coast of Maine is the sweetest, smallest, quietest town you'll ever stumble upon. Friendship was a huge part of my childhood, and is still a significant part of my life. It is my safe haven.
My family and I have traveled to Friendship, Maine every summer for the last 20 years. We know the man who runs the general store like he's part of the family. Everyone in town beeps their horns and waves to us when we drive by. The sun sets every single night right before our eyes over the bay, yet always paints the sky with new, brilliantly vibrant colors.
Friendship holds a majority of my childhood memories. I used to bathe in the sink where we wash dishes when I was a baby. Before the cottage was renovated, there was a bedroom off the living room that contained a ladder and a small crawlspace above the beds. I used to climb that ladder every morning when I woke up and say good morning to my family through the hole in the wall, the smells of my grandfather's bacon and eggs wafting into my bedroom. When the room disappeared after the renovations, I was devastated. Over a decade of memories was gone and replaced by an expanded living room and a new, refurbished kitchen, complete with couches, chairs, and appliances.
It took me a few years to get used to the new cottage, but it didn't change the charm of that cozy spot on Muscongus Bay. The smell of the ocean, the sound of seagulls in the morning mist, the fog over the water and trees on the other side of the bay in the early morning... Friendship sparkles with beauty. It's a place where life is so much simpler than the life I know in the city. The fishermen say hello to everyone, including each other, even if they don't know you. I've known Ernie, the man who runs the general store, since 1999, when I was just three years old.
I was in Friendship the first time I tried a steamer (a clam). I learned to read there. I quoted movies with my uncle from dinnertime to midnight. There was a time when Friendship bored me, in those preteen years when I had a brand new touchscreen phone and I would much rather have been in Marblehead with my friends than in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of adults.
But now I know why my mom loves going there so much. It takes all of your stress away. No one is worried about much in Friendship. No one is bustling around, no one is late, no one is talking angrily on the phone to a colleague or loved one about a missed meeting or the fact that they were late for dinner last night. Everyone is smiling. Everyone is just happy to have a roof over their heads and good food to eat.
One thing that hasn't changed about the cottage in 20 years is the view. The small line of trees with the bay and the docks right before our eyes, where we watch the sun dip below the horizon every night; the sun sets in Friendship just like it does in Boston and Marblehead, but there's something about the air and the atmosphere when the sun goes down on Friendship that makes me feel so nostalgic and grateful that I've had the luxury of calling that tiny cottage on the bay a second home.
