New Beginnings and Cherished Memories
New Beginnings and Cherished Memories
The fourth series in the Dusty Town sequence.
Starting Over Again in Kansas. Episode 1.
June 1, 1899
Jacob Strong’s grandkids, there they were, the three of them, all around him! And Willie, his grown boy, looking so proud of them and so happy to have his pa back home!
Jacob knelt down to receive the hugs and the kisses the grandkids were determined to bestow upon him. Jake, his namesake and the oldest, almost six years old already and looking quite the young man all dressed up to meet his grandfather. Jesse, turning four this winter, made him remember his brother Jesse who was killed in the war those many years ago. And little Maddie, soon to be two, looked just like Jacob’s wife Maddie, the one he knew he would never stop missing for as long as he lived.
“It’s so good to have you home, Pa! I missed you so much, you could never imagine!” And with that Jacob and Willie embraced and it seemed the years apart melted away. “I love you son,” Jacob said. “I love you more Pa,” Willie replied. “I reckon you don’t,” Jacob told his boy with a smile, and with that they both wiped tears from their eyes and hugged once more.
“I built that house for you Pa, hopin’ you like it well enough. You can watch the sunset from the front porch and the sunrise from the back one. Tried it out a few times and reckon it’s a fine home if I do say so myself!”
“Anyone hungry besides me?” Betty Lou cut in. “All the townsfolk are gathered at the restaurant to welcome you home Jacob and there is food aplenty! I’m believin’ there’s a pie there with all your names on it!”
“It’s pecan Pa! My favorite!”
“Of course it is! Willie’s a growing boy and we have to make sure he gets enough to eat!” Betty Lou replied with a smile and in a motherly sort of way. And she had been sort of a mother to Willie after his ma died and such a support to me too, Jacob remembered.
Jacob looked at Willie then and saw the same smile he would see on Willie’s face when he was yet a child thinking about one of Betty Lou’s pies. And here he is now, 33 years old and a family of his own! Where do the years go!
Well, here I am, starting over again, again in Kansas, Jacob thought to himself. All the years by myself have turned me into quite the thinker, and the writer too. All that journaling! Something Willie and the grandkids will have to remember me by I guess. But no more thinking, Jacob told himself, not today. Today is the start of new beginnings, new beginnings to wrap around so many cherished memories.
