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Eben sits in the lighthouse museum, welcoming visitors to the island who arrive by ferry boat in the summertime. Almost always he’s accompanied by his collie dog, who equals his age in dog years.
For most of his life, Eben was the island milkman, delivering bottles of fresh milk to doorsteps along the 13-mile length of the island. Later, after the dairy farms closed down, he opened a Butter ‘n’ Eggs shop, the island’s first convenience store. In retirement, after his children had grown and moved off-island, and his cherished wife of 50 years died of cancer, Eben was too often alone and lonely. So the islanders contrived the role of official island-greeter and established him in the front room of the lighthouse museum to answer questions and tell long winding tales of island life. He sits and waits with his collie dog. |
