Ten-year-old Jeffrey Miller was not a basketball player. In fact, he didn’t understand the game. Undeterred by her son's  most vehement protests, Jeffrey’s mother signed him up for the Marblehead town league, which is made up of 5th and 6th graders. She was optimistic that the experience would teach her son a thing or two. Joanne Miller underestimated the life-altering impact of two Marblehead coaches--Gordon Vincent and David Frontero. “Gordon Vincent and David Frontero, together, epitomized what is most positive and enriching about the experience of being on a team,” said Miller. “They …

Kim Bernard and Wayne George met on Nantucket in the summer of 1991. Both were on the island to participate in the famous Figawi, an annual Memorial Day weekend event where sailors race their yachts from Hyannis to Nantucket. “Our paths collided one evening at the Rose & Crown,” Bernard says of their first meeting at a popular night club. Bernard was with a group of girlfriends when she ran into George and a group of his friends. “They were out on the town after a day of sailing," she said.  According to Bernard, the running joke for all single women attending Figawi was “don’t ever expect to…

Margaret McGuire was a recent University of Florida graduate trying to make ends meet when Mark Hollister entered the picture. She wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. In fact, she already had a boyfriend.  “I was waitressing at the Boston Sail Loft in 1989. I had recently moved to the North End with some college friends after spending the winter in Snowmass, Colorado,"she said. McGuire had taken a few months off after graduation to go west to see snow for the first time. “Growing up in Florida was a different life, “ said McGuire. Settling in Boston with college roommates,  McGuire was …

When North Shore native Prachi Godiwala graduated from Tufts at age 21, she was unsure of her summer plans. She wanted a break, prior to her commitment to med school. She hadn’t had the chance to study abroad, but now, it was her time. “I thought that while I was young and without any obligations, I should do it,” Godiwala said. Two weeks later, she was headed for Europe with a backpack.  “It was something my father did when he was young. I'd heard of others doing it and having amazing, life-altering experiences. I wanted to experience new places and cultures through backpacking,” she said…

Upon first glance, this blended Marblehead family conjures up images of a popular, albeit much less campy version, of a sitcom from the early 1970’s. Apart from names and lyrics, the melody is the same: Here’s the story, of a woman named Kathy, Raising three babies under five She packed the car one Friday Determined that yes, she would survive   Here’s the story, of a man named Ted, Who was busy with three girls of his own, They were living west of Boston  When that Friday he decided-- not to be alone. That Friday, both Kathy Sidford and William Truscott decided to go, (independently of one …

They had met in kindergarten. But the connection didn't really come until they were seated next to each other in second grade. Both knew the other. They saw each other often. But the girls were shy, each talking mostly with whomever was seated next to them. Two years went by before they were in the same class again. But this time, they were seated next to one another. And it was at that very moment when Olivia Eddy and Montana Joyce formed their lasting bond. "I knew who Montana was in kindergarten and in first grade. She was known as the girl who was a great athlete. But it wasn't until the …

Dr. Howard Goldberg and Betsy Rubenfeld lived in the same New England town, both married to different people in Andover. While their paths crossed and they occasionally traveled in similar social circles, they rarely spoke. Rubenfeld recalls coincidentally sharing a return flight from Florida, and a brief conversation with the reserved dermatologist. "I sat with his wife Ellen on the plane. She was lovely. But he barely made eye contact," she said. "He told me later that he was trained never to talk to another's wife. I thought he was quite rude actually," she said. Dr. Howard Goldberg and …

In 1966, Jim Sparks had been a US Peace Corps volunteer for almost a year when he first met Margaret Franck in New Delhi, India. After college, both joined President Kennedy's newly established federal agency— dedicated to the cause of peace. Jim Sparks and Margaret Franck were assigned to India--he in New Dehli, she in Patiala. Though they had never met, their shared mutual ideals and circumstances placed them on common ground. Until the night Margaret Franck wound up in Jim Sparks' bed.  Jim was traveling by train from Bombay to New Dehli  with a friend for Christmas vacation when things …

Amanda Barrett was 24-years-old and working for a real estate developer in Boston when the accounting team from Arthur Anderson came calling. They were hired by the Newbury Street developer to do some financial reporting. "There was a whole group of young guys," Barrett recalled. "I was actually out sick the day they came in, but a co-worker/friend called me to tell me they were there. She told me there was one guy in particular she thought I was going to like." Barrett didn't pay too much attention. She was in a relationship, and although she knew it wasn't going anywhere, she was tending to…

Meghan McChesney Gilroy was in a tough place. She was a Midwest girl thrust into the heart of Watts, CA to tackle an inner-city, elementary teaching position. Immeasurable career setbacks coupled with wounds of the heart led her to seek changes through a powerful source of enlightenment. The source was spiritual teacher don Miguel Ruiz. With ardent zeal, McChesney became a scholar, attending the leader's lectures, courses and seminars, ultimately becoming proficient enough to teach Miguel's many advanced courses. McChesney's decision to accept a role as don Miguel's Executive Director—a …

Eighteen-year- old Joanne Miller had worked herself into a tizzy. The mere notion of being "grounded" for a WEEK had sent her into a tailspin. This teen from Olean, NY was no pacifist. Today, the Marblehead mother of three, looks back on a time wrought with restless emotion—and counts her blessings for the positive outcome. "My dad had reestablished a curfew of midnight, which I had heatedly argued against. I was independent, and had been living on my own in a dorm room for a year. I was most gainfully employed, responsible--but mortified to be 18 with a curfew," Miller said, still aghast at …

Annie Ziergiebel (formerly Ann Norton Mechem) remembers the exact moment 45 years ago when she met John Ziergiebel. The 15-year-old entered Newton High School in the fall of 1965 longing for a new companion. Girl, boy — it didn't matter. She was a young girl carrying some darkness, and hungry for a deep, meaningful relationship.  "I was walking to school with a neighborhood girl who told me I'd better make some friends before people found out I was the principal's daughter. After the first day, I didn't have a new best friend," Ziergiebel said, recalling that panicked feeling.For seven years…