Concerning Samwise

Meeting Samwise for the first time. (Photo by Virginia Moore)

Samwise is such a stalwart fellow. He is our anchor, our constant, the predictable one. While Emily wears her joy on her furry coat, Samwise is the semi-stoic philosopher, drinking life in, studying the world in silent grace.

Sam appeared when I was fighting for my life, and he helped me endure the worst of it.

Back in 2016, Atticus and I became sick at the same time. I ended up in North Conway’s Memorial Hospital, a place I’d once joked where I accomplished something E.E. Cummings did not. I came out alive.

My first stay at Memorial was when Atticus and I arrived in Jackson, and I had a staggeringly painful gangrenous gall bladder and came down with sepsis. My second visit to Memorial was eight years ago. Once again, I had sepsis—along with a slew of other deadly maladies. I was there for nearly a week, and Atticus was allowed to visit me daily.

But when I got worse, an ambulance transferred me to Portland’s Maine Med, where I…