New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
The fourth series in the Dusty Town sequence.
A Dream Comes True. Episode 22
November 25, 1899
Caleb stopped by today to ask my permission for him to marry Aunt Daisy. He told me he didn’t know who else to ask and felt he should ask someone so he asked me. I can’t say it came as a surprise and I am happy for them both. Caleb says they plan to stay in this soon not so dusty town and I’m so glad Aunt Daisy will be staying here permanently. Betty Lou, Miss Morgan, and Sue apparently already knew and had begun the wedding plans right under mine and Willie’s noses! He also asked me to write the introductory piece to our newspaper which will be ready to debut on January 1, 1900! The turn of the century! So much excitement for us all!
“What are you gonna write Pa? Something about your life? The townsfolk? Ma? Betty Lou’s good cookin’ and her pies?”
“Willie, slow down!” Jacob sighed. “Don’t quite reckon I know yet.”
“Hmmm. You know what Betty Lou says, right?”
“I’ll know what to do when the time comes.”
“That’s it!”
“Well, the time’s about a comin’, Willie, my boy, and I don’t know yet.”
“You’ll know, Pa, you’ll just know. Supper’s callin’ and I mustn’t keep Sue and the young’uns waitin’! Love ya Pa!” And off Willie went, leaving Jacob deep in thought. And then he knew.
Jacob began:
You are reading this today because my very dear wife and her and my very dear friend had a dream to start a town newspaper one day. The idea came to life with the help of Caleb Nelson, a lifelong town resident, and his new bride, my wife’s Aunt Daisy. Countless hours were spent working up the content and the design of our paper. How many pages it would be, who would write for it, how often it would be printed. What we knew at the first was that it would be birthed at the turn of the century. And so it is!
It was thought for me to be the town historian and write of days gone by and what life was like when I was a young’un. I did try, yet it didn’t seem quite right to me. The newspaper is not meant to be a history book, but rather a story of today and what the world is like at this moment. Perhaps a smattering here and there of history is good for those new to our town, but not extensive amounts of it. It is important to embrace the future, this new century, and not hold too tightly to the past which is now gone from us despite us perhaps wanting it to live on still.
Our hope is that you will enjoy this newspaper as we move hopefully and bravely into the 20th Century.
Many thanks,
On behalf of all of us at “From Our Front Porch,”
Jacob Strong
Read Prior Episodes of New Beginnings & Cherished Memories
Starting Over Again in Kansas. Episode 1
Nothing’s Changes. Everything’s Changes. Episode 2
Knowing What to Do When the Time Comes. Episode 3
Still Plenty of Sweet Living Left for Them. Episode 4
Morning Light. Episode 5
”You can’t count how much we all love you.” Episode 6
A Spare Room in the Back of the Store. Episode 7
The Stars at Night. Episode 8
Aunt Daisy! Episode 9
Sometimes Dreams Do Come True. Episode 10
A Sweet Sunset. Episode 11
Aunt Daisy is Coming! Episode 12
A Most Special Day. Episode 13
Just Two Days to Wait. Episode 14
Every Now and Then. Episode 15
Aunt Daisy Has Arrived. Episode 16
And the Morgan Lady. Episode 17
That Betty Lou. Episode 18
The Morgan Lady CAN Cook. Episode 19
Aunt Daisy Smiled Back. Episode 20
They Had Not Changed A Bit. Episode 21
A Dream Comes True. Episode 22 (This one)
