I don’t know if you take submissions from someone who doesn’t live there anymore, but I just had to reach out to thank you for this article.

Medford is where I grew up, and still consider my home town (Class of ’61). Thank you for publishing this story about Medford and the people who live there now, so I could reconnect.  I felt joy at seeing the photos and reading the words of people who were doing the same thing I was doing where I live now,  3000 miles from the Rogue Valley, in a tiny village at the foothills of the Green Mountains in Vermont. Much, much smaller than Medford, but otherwise similar.

I was one of six people who had just created an Indivisible group, and then found ourselves working frantically together to organize a “Hands Off!” demonstration in just 10 days and getting the word out. That morning, we gathered nervously, expecting maybe100 to 150 people. They came and just kept coming, filled our green and spread down the main street and a couple of side streets, while we looked on amazed.

There were 700 of us, from the even tinier towns around us and from up and down our valley. Joy, enthusiasm, a sense of connection, and purpose. As I walked through the crowd, many people thanked us.  They had felt uncertain and rudderless, and now felt part of something larger and meaningful.

I was so busy at our event,  I forgot to take photos (though others did). But the photos of the people in my hometown in Oregon remind me very much of the folks here: We share the same concerns, the same dedication to our Constitution and our nation, and the same sense of being one as we stood at opposite sides of the country.

I am exhausted but feel also exhilarated by all the people across America who stood together. And my special treat was knowing that two places that matter to me both were part of it. May we continue to stand up for democracy together. Bless you all.

Annie D. Stratton (Class of ’61, Medford Senior High School) lives in Brandon, Vermont.