Jackie Watts has been gone for three years, yet somehow I wasn’t surprised the other day when a flash drive with her name on it turned up in my desk drawer, and there she was. It was so like her.

For the past several years, even before she’d been diagnosed with a disease that would be terminal, Jackie had been getting her life in order. Her passion for Lincolnville’s past, especially for the photos that tell the stories, had crept into every corner of her house. Packets of color prints, DVDs, VHS tapes, old black and white originals — Jackie had them all. For years, whenever the Lincolnville Historical Society, or its Founders’ Weekend offshoot, put on an event Jackie found somebody with a video camera to record it.

And as is inevitable when you’re a collector, the results often ended up in boxes or albums, in boxes and drawers and on shelves in her house. (I confess to the same problem; it was during a big cleaning day that I found the flash drive.) Jackie, determined that her kids shouldn’t have to decide what to do with the stuff after she was gone, made piles, all labeled, and gave instructions. So it was that her daughter, Susan Allen, dropped off the little device some time after her mother’s death. And that I promptly lost it in my own piles of historical stuff.

I’ve only begun to delve into the files stored on that thing. There may be some logic to what she saved there, but just as likely, she was going through her computer a final time and grabbed everything she thought someone could make sense of. It’s a hodge podge of things: Young Family Genealogy, Cottage Kids, Stories, Fire Department and much, much more. Jackie’s trove of historical treasures trumps mine by a mile.

Like many good, lifelong friends I can’t remember when we met. We were nearly the same age, but Jackie had the jump on me where family was concerned. She already had three kids before I had my first. It would have been the early 70s when we got to know one another. For some reason, she knew I was a good candidate to invite to the founding meeting of the Lincolnville Historical Society; it took place in her living room in the Center, the two of us just 30 years old, along with a handful of what seemed to me really old people. Of course, probably most of them were barely 50 at the time. So, I get to be counted as a “founding member”, when in fact, I went home and didn’t give it another thought for nearly 20 years.

Jackie, however, was serious. She collected old photos that had never been out of family albums since they were taken, images of people and houses and events long forgotten. And, most miraculous to me, Jackie wrote and printed a book of Lincolnville history, Lincolnville Early Days Vol. I, the first history of our town ever written. Engrossed as I was in figuring out motherhood, being a wife, living in a foreign land (I was a suburban girl after all), I was in awe of this woman who knew how to write and print a book, apparently off the top of her head. And that’s exactly how she did it. And then went on to print three more books of Lincolnville history and photos. Figured it out as she went along. Jackie was a great role model for me; I think I told her that. I hope I did.

Jackie had a wonderful cohort in her cousin, Isabel Morse Maresh. The two had bonded in adulthood over their shared love of family and local history. They had many adventures together, hunting down photos, old records and newspaper articles, figuring out the best way to reproduce them, (all pre-computer-scanner-digitization). Thanks to these two women much of our town’s, and neighboring towns’, history has been preserved.

Finding this treasure trove of memorabilia on a tiny plastic device has opened up so many memories, I could write much more about my good friend, Jackie. But instead I’ll end by telling you a different story, one that’s happening right now.

Jackie’s grandson, Nick Watts, son of her eldest, Christopher, and his wife, Tammy, is currently at Maine Medical Center, recovering from open heart surgery. Sixteen-year-old Nick, who just last month was the lead in CHRHS’ production of Sister Act, needed the surgery to repair a heart problem he’d had from birth. From his mother’s Facebook posts, friends and family can follow his progress, including the bumps along the way. It makes me think of all the families who are spending these days and weeks of what is, for most of us, a wonderful season, anxiously watching over a loved one in the hospital. Nick and his family are in my heart, especially as I remember how his grandma loved all her grandchildren.

The PTO, the organization that brings enrichment opportunities to Lincolnville Central School, held its annual Gingerbread Decorating afternoon on the Sunday of Christmas-By-the-Sea, the first week-end in December. This year when families signed up for a gingerbread house to decorate, they had the chance to make a donation for local families in need. The PTO collected $300 this way, which was used to buy $25 Hannaford gift cards, that were then distributed.

 Everyone is invited to the Lincolnville Community Library book group’s holiday gathering this Tuesday, December 20 at 6 p.m. This month people have been reading books from the library’s own collection. This will be a chance for everyone to share their thoughts on their various choices. They will also start planning what to read in the coming year. All are welcome to come listen or join the discussion and share book recommendations. And there will be refreshments as well! For more information, call 763-4343 or email. 

 The Lincolnville Community Library’s annual Christmas Show will be Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., part of the ongoing series of shows the third Wednesday of every month, September through May. This month will feature local storytellers, a singalong, local musicians, a special puppet show, the Harmonica Kids and, best of all, Christmas cookies. No admission charge and no reservations required. First come, first seated. Bringing cookies to share would be nice, says Rosey, producer of these Wednesday shows.

Family Christmas Eve Candlelight service will be held on Saturday, December 24, at 4 p.m. at the United Christian Church (UCC) in Lincolnville Center.  Rev. Dr. Susan Stonestreet will lead worship; Lisa Curreri and Barbara Bentley will be readers; flutist Maho Hisakawa will play; John McKean will be the organist and the Wing and a Prayer Choir will sing.  There will be lots of sing-along carols as well.  The evening's offering will benefit the Good Neighbors Fund which assists community members with emergency needs.  The church is fully handicapped accessible.  Doors will open at 3:30 p.m.  All welcome. Christmas morning there will be worship at the regular 9:30 a.m. hour.

No other month in our calendar holds such emotion as December. There’s Christmas, of course, for those who celebrate it, or who grew up celebrating it. We can’t get away from it; stores, television, Facebook, workplace, school. Wherever we go to meet the world outside our doors, there it is: Christmas. We’re meant to shop, to bake, to decorate, to be full of joy. If we have young ones around we put on the whole production – toys, tree, stockings, cookies, Santa, even if we can’t really afford it. And if we really can’t afford it, then the heartbreak of disappointing the children must be crushing.

Yet, outside our windows there is a miracle unfolding if we stop long enough to see it. The days are visibly shortening, the cold deepening, and all the while, the year is about to turn. On Wednesday the 21st to be exact, the shortest day of the year – 7 hours, 49 minutes and 41 seconds; that’s nine hours less than the longest day of summer.

 Now, I would never would have paid attention to what I’m about to suggest back when I was a mother frantically trying to make Christmas perfect, but why not pause, really pause, and think about this miracle? The shrinking days are about to grow longer; the cold will deepen even more, we know, but the sun will grow stronger. Empty your mind and pay attention to what’s going on around you. That’s been the lesson I learned in 2016.

Merry Christmas.