Post Nine

Then we had dances, and I always went with one or another of my friends. Such fun, we had.

I remember one Saturday when Emily Proctor took a car full of young men and girls to a football game at Norwich. As I said, everything was known in Proctor, so in the morning before we left, if Claude didn’t show up with a fur coat for me to wear — he was afraid I would be cold — he wasn’t going. It was a jolly party. We sang college songs and favorite tunes on the way home.

With all this activity and the restricted life I had lived at home, it is no wonder I got sick. At first, I thought I had a cold, then I needed a doctor, but I didn’t know any – so I asked Mrs. Stilson, and she recommended her doctor from Pittsford. He came, told me to stay in bed, and promised to come again, and when he did, he brought me the loveliest bouquet of Mountain Azalea—so lovely, I recovered almost immediately. And the next thing I knew my mother appeared and stayed for two weeks. I think she came to see what I was “up to,” as the saying goes.

Anyway, when I was better, Mr. Beebe, the school superintendent, took Mother and me all over the county when he went to visit the schools, whichwas very kind of him. I wonder if he did the same for other teachers.

It was about this time I mase my first visit to Lancaster, PA, where Norma lived. Father and Mother drove me to Providence, RI, so I could take the train. I had to spend a night on the train, and they only had an upper berth for me. I got on the train and found a very nice gentleman who was also going to Philadelphia, so he came over and began to talk to me. He mentioned he was attending the American Manufacturers Association Meeting. When it came time to turn in, he said he’d be happy to exchange berths with me. He had heard our conversation in Providence. So I did, and the next morning, we had breakfast together and walked around looking in store windows at men’s clothing.

I went on toLancaster and had a happy time with Norma, her family, and friends. I liked her mother very much, but I enjoyed visiting with her father the best. We talked in his study, which was lined with books, and above the bookshelves, there were busts of famous men – Darwin, Newton, Bacon, Huxley. Once, he took me to the college, where he showed me cabinets filled with butterflies, moths, and other specimens — all very fascinating and educational. I think I stayed about two weeks.

Then I traveled to Lansdowne, near Philadelphia, to stay with Uncle George, whose wife was in the hospital. They employed a maid, who was awful – slow and poky, and never got the meals on time. So I helped out and rather liked it – feeding the two children and playing with them. Uncle George said he’d never realized how much difference it made to have someone who could prepare a meal, and I that never cooked before, but I could at least make oatmeal. Anyway, I think because I made a good impression that time, he later sent me a lovely silver cake dish and the mother of pearl manicure set when I got married.

I didn’t return to Proctor the next year to teach. I thought I could substitute in Worcester. I had taken the State Boards together with about 40 or 50 other teachers and was one of a half dozen who passed. I was surprised at the list of subjects we had to take exams in – it explained why so many failed. I relied on my good memory, and so was ensured against failure. But I didn’t hear from Claude hardly all summer and wondered why. Towards the end of August, I received a card saying he had been ill and was with his mother in Essex Junction, and that as soon as he was well enough, he would visit me.

Margaret Bixler, who married Bix years later, told me that Mrs. Collins said Claude was sick because he thought I wouldn’t marry him. However, I left Proctor because if he wanted to be with me, he could come home and ask my father, which he did.