Debbie Levy ran a used bookstore at the foot of Main Street in Penetanguishene — The Reading Room.

I always stopped by whenever I was in town to search out books on local history, but primarily to chat with Debbie. Then, we often had lunch together, usually at Flynn’s Public House, where the bank used to be when I was a kid.

Debbie and I knew different Penetanguishenes. I remember the town as it was in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Debbie arrived there, a single mother with triplet sons, in 1990.

She came from Nova Scotia, and we both knew that you could love more than one place if you were lucky — the place that was home and the place that became home.

She once referred to Penetanguishene as “this quirky little town.” It was said with affection, and it applied to both the town she knew and the town I once........

© Peterborough Examiner