I moved to the Upper Valley to take a nanny position during the 2001 Labor Day weekend. I remember the moment when I said to myself, "Oh, this feels like home." It was the afternoon of Sept. 9 while driving through Strafford, Vermont. I had never had that feeling before in all the places I had lived. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the terror caused by what seemed to be religious fundamentalists from abroad caused a number of repressed memories to surface; memories of terrifying childhood experiences at the hands of Christian religious fundamentalists in the U.S. Because I had just moved to the area, I had no local support system after 9/11, and only a few friends back in Maine. Then on Oct. 11 was the first fatality of Operation Enduring Freedom: Master Sgt. Evander Andrews of Solon, Maine. He was the son of a friend of mine. In November, I was concerned about my escalating PTSD symptoms and went to the ER at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. As a result, I won the lottery when it came to the mental health professional that I began to see in December. His name was Bertrand Nadeau. Recently, I was told by a contemporary of his that Bert was the best of the best. Bert, in particular, and many of the people in the Upper Valley, in general, saved my life. He gave me the tools to deal with the trauma and the people of this area gave me the example of what supportive, compassionate peoples and communities could do to make life better for people, to live up to our ideals of democracy. I saw it in the way the family for whom I was a nanny treated and supported me. I saw it in the way the local merchants in the area treated their customers and employees. I saw it in the pages of the local newspaper and other local media, VPR included. Vermonters should keep in mind the strong civic-minded bent of many people in Vermont to be socially responsible and compassionate citizens. It didn't surprise me when Vermonters pulled together after the ravages of Hurricane Irene, or when the recent pandemic hit. Vermont's state motto is Freedom and Unity. I like to think that there is more unity in Vermont about what our social contract with each other should look like than in many other places. The way in which Vermont has fared throughout the pandemic proves that point.

Lori Harriman