MANCHESTER, NH — Jackie Chicoine had mixed emotions when I emailed her to tell her she’d been chosen at random to win a $20 Cafe la Reine gift card.
Her husband Brian Chicoine has contributed many terrific articles to the InkLink, and so she thought that might disqualify her.
Au contraire.
Between the random number generator and her nondescript email, Brian had nothing to do with the universe conspiring to reward Jackie for being a loyal email subscriber to and reader of the InkLink.
I was happy to find my way to Jackie’s place on the West Side, and even more delighted for the warm greeting on a cold afternoon from her youngest, Beny, who is a self-proclaimed enthusiastic hugger.
“We had to tell him that he needs to ask first if it’s OK. Some people are not comfortable with hugging,” Jackie told me, after Beny politely asked me for a hug.
We all hit the jackpot that day.
Jackie not only gets a chance to try Cafe la Reine for the first time, but I threw in one of our retro Inkblot mugs, which happened to be stuffed with some goodies, including candy, and the last of the retro InkLink ink blot pop sockets. I also gave them a copy of “Insider’s Guide to Manchester,” a terrific book by Ward 2 Alderman Will Stewart, illustrated by Peter Noonan — which I thought she could share with Brian, who has proven his devotion to Manchester with his many columns about how we can move forward in a positive way. You can read them here in case you missed them.
And I got two great hugs, one coming and one going.
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