As three sisters in our mid-90s, we read the article, “Horrors and Healing” (June 18), chronicling the abuse of children in Lewiston’s Saint Joseph’s Orphanage, with deep empathy for the women whose lives had been so deeply affected. We felt compelled, however, to share the very different story of our experience at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in the years 1934-1942.

Our mother died of tuberculosis, leaving seven little children in our overwhelmed father’s care. The four youngest girls were sent to St. Joseph’s from our home in Rumford to be cared for by the Grey nuns. Papa visited us often on Sundays, but the Sisters were our primary educators and caretakers.

We, collectively, cannot remember a single example of abuse toward us or others from our time at Saint Joseph’s. We don’t recall individual nurturing affection, but we recall efficient supervision and care, adequate nutrition, lots of singing and one sister in particular — Sister “Mere” Stanislas — who often made life fun on the playground. We recall good people who tried to give four lonely little girls a proper home away from home.

It appears that we are a generation older than the women in the original article. We know that organizations often change over time. Our time at St. Joseph’s was in the early years of the orphanage when kindness toward needy children was its mission, reflected by its staff and administration.

We pray for those who came after us and were poorly treated. Stories like theirs are reminders to all organizations that serve children of the importance of a loving, nurturing staff and the damage that abusive teachers and caretakers can inflict in an otherwise benevolent institution.

Adrienne Poirier Law, Rumford; Bernadette Poirier Mickeriz, Marguerite Poirier Gaudet