I am writing in response to the benefit dinner held at the Town and Country Oct. 23 for Ms. Jennifer Flynn and her family. The evening was a tribute to the spirit of Keyport. Jennifer Flynn is a 20-year-old Keyport resident suffering from inoperable cancer. The spaghetti dinner was to assist her family with medical bills.
While attending the dinner, I looked around and observed that the room was filled with faces that have been there throughout my 23 years growing up in town. These were faces of coaches, teachers, friends and neighbors, all pulling together for all the right reasons. It dawned on me that this is one of so many times in my life where I witnessed the town acting in noble unison.
With these realizations, I knew that had it been my own family in need, the town would pull together in the same way. This thought gave me chills of inspiration. It made me so proud to call Keyport my hometown.
A small town is a variation of a family. Sometimes the gossip in the grocery shop can make you want to move to the big city where no one knows you. (We have all felt that!) But when you see the town rally together as we did on Oct. 23, you would not trade growing up here for any other place in the world. You know, Keyport is not just a town you grew up in. It is a home you grew up in.
I just want to personally thank everyone involved with the evening for my own inspiration. It warms my heart to see so many people with their hearts in the right place. I believe it was my first adult revelation of the privilege it has been to grow up in the company of the people of Keyport. My sincere best wishes to the Flynn family.
Go Keyport!
Elizabeth Graham Burgos
Keyport