Greetings! Please let me introduce myself. I have lived in Caribou and the Caribou area for all of my life. I was born in Presque Isle on Oct. 25, 1955 and I was an only child until the age of 13. I graduated from Caribou High School in 1974, attended Northern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, and studied psychology at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Augusta. I am employed full-time and my husband is a teacher at the Caribou Middle School. I recently went to battle with the monster that is cancer and as of this day, I am winning.
I have discovered a great deal about life over the past nine months or so: Worry is a horrifying waste of energy. We must never entertain regret. We must never be afraid to love. We should not judge or assume. A smile can calm a ferocious storm or be the catalyst for conversation and friendship. We learn the most from those who have lived the longest. Angels walk among us. Some of the most glorious and gallant of all the angels live right here in northern Maine. I know this to be true because I have met them.
These life lessons are the main ingredients in all of my tales and I know of no greater joy than the ability to introduce them to you.
Writing has always been my passion. Caribou has always been my home. As I look out past the silver potato house that is before me and watch the tips of the bare maples and birches surrender to a gray winter sky, I realize it is time. My fingers dance upon the keyboard; each letter tapping out a story that has been knocking about in my heart from the first time I held a book in my hands. I cannot recall a period in my life when I could not read. Each night, just before bedtime, my beloved mother and I would read the headlines in the newspaper and I believe this is the way I learned to read.
In one way or another, I have always been a storyteller. Tales of adventure and challenge and love and the loss of love constantly fill my mind. When I reached the milestone age of 55, I decided to list 55 lessons I have learned and not surprisingly, each lesson was born from a story — stories that have woven themselves into yarns. A yarn is described as a long story or involved tale that relates exciting or incredible events and along my own personal journey here in Caribou, Maine, I have been blessed with a collection of many yarns; Northern Yarns, if you will. It is my dream and hopefully my destiny to share them with you.
Editor’s note: Belinda Wilcox Ouellette has lived in the Caribou area for all of her 56 years. She presently lives in Connor TWP. with her husband Dale and their Goldendoodle Barney. They are currently working on building a home in Caribou. You may contact Belinda online at: dbwouellette@maine.rr.com.
