My Whole World. Episodes 7 & 8.

My Whole World is the sixth series in the Dusty Town original historical fiction sequence written by Mary Ann DiLorenzo. Set in rural Kansas just prior to the turn of the century and continuing through the early 1900s, the series follows the Strong family through the challenges and joys of life in Midwest America.

Time to Act. Episode 7.

The days continued on and Willie soldiered on. Clearly though, to those who knew him, much life had gone out of him. Both his happy smile and kind heart, always a part of him, had become more forced and unfeeling. Willie, had he been more like his mother Madeline, would have gone and fetched his family back not long after they had left. Yet, too much like his father, Willie had a tendency to wait until he thought the time was right to act, which at times was too late. He lacked the fire and go getting style of his mother, and now his sweet, kind way had been changed by circumstances he did not understand and somehow could not act to remedy.

Jacob and Betty Lou spoke about it all one night after a hearty winter supper of fresh baked bread, stew, and apple pie. “Have I ever told you that you are one fine cook, Betty Lou?” Jacob asked with a smile.

“Yes, though you can keep telling me as often as you’d like,” Betty Lou replied, somehow though a million miles away. “I’m worried about Willie, Jacob. It’s wearing on him something fierce. I have a mind to go to that thoughtless, self-absorbed supposed wife of his and let her have it! Don’t you feel that way, Jacob?”

Jacob had to laugh. Betty Lou was like Madeline in so many ways! However, she was usually a bit more tempered when she became indignant. Not tonight.

Jacob answered Betty Lou then. “ You know Betty Lou, for a moment there, it was like Madeline was sitting across from me again. That fire she had you have also. You strong women won’t sit back and wait it out when you believe action is called for.”

Betty Lou looked at Jacob, not hoping for a conversation about her good, or perhaps less good, qualities, but hoping to hash out something that they could do or suggest to salvage Willie’s family situation. “Seems to me the time has come for some kind of action, but I don’t really know what that is.”

“Then maybe the time hasn’t yet come, hmm?” Jacob answered.

At just that moment, they heard steps on the porch, a knock on the door, and then there was Willie, standing in front of them, his hand outstretched holding a letter. “Here, read this!” 

Episode 8.

Decatur, Georgia

Springtime 1906

Mr. William Strong,

Hope this finds you well.

You may not remember me as I left your part of the world many years ago to seek a life better suited to me. I’m one of the Johnsons, from the neighboring farm, and your wife Sue is my sister. She came here with the children wanting something far removed from the life she had always known. I do not believe it was you that she stopped loving, but it was the hard life of farming that she could no longer love.

She fancied she could take the horseless carriage out by herself one day and she had a bit of an accident. She will make a full recovery, yet will be in the hospital here under doctor’s care for a little while longer. The children are well and have asked about you. If you will come, we would all be glad to see you. Please reply earliest post.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Johnson

“I sent a reply earlier today,” Willie told Jacob and Betty Lou. “I don’t know what I’m going to find there, how Sue is, if she does still love me, if they’ll come back, but I know that I have to go. I’m figuring if you take me to the station, the railroad goes nearly straight through. I asked Robert to be at the other end to bring me to Decatur and to my family.”

Jacob and Betty Lou took a while to absorb it all. They smiled. They knew the time had come and Willie knew what he had to do. Standing there, Willie looked a bit like his old self again.

“So glad,” Willie, “so glad!” Betty Lou responded first. “But Sue, sure hope she will be alright. That poor girl!”

Jacob couldn’t help think about when Madeline came determined to fetch him back to the city those years ago, and she stayed. Wondering if Willie would stay in Georgia when he leaves rural Kansas. Willie was his whole world and he would miss him so much. He felt the void already.

Betty Lou knew what Jacob was feeling and gave him a smile and a hug. Jacob gathered his emotions and reached out to his son with a hug of his own and a smile. “It will all be alright, Willie, Sue and the young’uns, it all will be just fine. Go to them, you’ll see.”

Previous Episodes of My Whole World
And Just Like That, Everything’s Changed. Episode 1.
Feeling a Glimmer of Hope. Episode 2.
Uncertain About Everything. Episode 3.
“Don’t Forget Me Dad.” Episode 4.
The Weight of Jake’s Letter. Episode 5.
Months Go By. Episode 6.