The Wayside Inn has been a historic staple of Sudbury, Massachusetts since 1716. Now it is named for the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who ended up writing one of his most famous works “Tales of the Wayside Inn” almost 150 years later. Although the Civil War was raging, this Inn was already more than a century old with creaking floor boards and stories packed in every inch of the space.
Longfellow stayed at the Inn while he was mourning the passing of his wife and facing debilitating anxiety from the war, his loss, and his own writer’s block. Perhaps this is why I am drawn to this place now. There is something so relatable about this story of Longfellow trapped in his room at the Inn, waiting for the war to end, waiting for his heart to mend, and praying that his heart will heal not only him but others as well. Places like the Wayside Inn allow us to reach across time to relate to and connect with the people before us who thankfully memorialized the energy and culture of their day in their art so that we could internalize the lessons and co-create brighter days ahead.
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