Sometimes one of the hardest but best things in life is simply to say, “I made a mistake. I’m sorry and I’ll try to do better.”

I learned that lesson from Mrs. Berry, my third-grade teacher. She had heard from her classroom a bunch of us 8-year-olds running in the corridor. When she asked me a little later if I were one of the runners, I felt compelled to tell the truth. I gulped and said, “I was.” She thanked me for telling her the truth, though I still had to clean erasers, as I recall. But I felt better.

It’s not just kids who make mistakes. Sometimes institutions make mistakes as well. In 2016 the Electoral College made a mistake. It elected a person who was simply not up to the job of the presidency. In a couple of months our country will have the opportunity to show that it can stand up, say that it made a mistake and will try to better this time.

I know Mrs. Berry, though long gone, will be proud of us when we do.

Dennis Perkins

Winslow