All my children grew up in Lincoln and went to the Lincoln schools, including preschool. When it was time for them (and other young people from our community) to apply to educational programs like Breadloaf Young Writers or as a legislative page, for a special job, or college, or law school they would sometimes ask if I would read their essays. A single recurring theme in what they wrote was how much it meant to grow up in Lincoln: on the playground between the river and the mountain, hiding in the woods, taking refuge by the streams, being part of the community. How this school and town helped make them who they are.

Now all three of my sons and those they grew up with have made their homes in Lincoln. Here, they and their partners are growing their businesses, raising their families and serving and supporting a variety of civic, educational, business and nonprofit organizations. Now it is their sons’ and daughters’ turn to attend the little preschool we built so many years ago, and the community school we have all supported over the decades.

It’s often said that we don’t know what we’ve got ’til it’s gone. Not so in Lincoln. We know. We know very well that this little town has much to offer the struggling world. And it begins in the heart of the town, our schools.

Elizabeth Ready

Lincoln