Scranton Central HS 1958 Yearbook (Scranton, PA) - Full Access

The Old Woman An oJd woman determines the future happines of a di tre ed gir l. 'ancy Kat:;. '60 T HE oft ocean br eze i driftina through the quaint. little ea– hore village. It i quiet and peaceful here. almo t a if the ,·illage were a world in it elf. It inhabitant are, too. implc people. They are mo tly elderly peopl . who came here be- au e of the healthful en\'ironment and un omplicated livina with the ea and the un. Lif here i entirely different. o one hurrie or ru he . Nothing i exp cted; nothing is an– ticipat d. Life i ea y. Walking down the beach one wind · day. I a'' her for the fir t time. The ight of her. itting ma– je tically in a ro king chair on the porch of an old. habb) beach hou e, t hiah on the dune . topped me immediately. I) heart throbbed. m) pac quickened. and I followed my wandering feet up the hill. "Thi i unbelie,·able, impo ible," I thought. I was wept by loneline . The ''oman re embled m) mother areat– ly. It \Va friahtening. I neared the hou , I a\\ her mor vi\'idly. The e\ ere plane in her finely chi eled face framed with pure whit hair and the \'Cry oftne of her, ittina there in front of the open ea, made the mo t beautiful picture I ha\ e e\·er een. It wa unreal. I felt the tears in my eye . I noticed that this creature wa much older than mother. M) mother had be n a beautiful. he wa o wonderful. alway wor– rying about Dad and me when he wa ill. '·Beth go fix ome more br akfa t for you and your father." I remember her alway aying. "You're both looking a little peaked 22 latel). J u t you wait 'til I get better; I ll ha\e you fattened up." My mother died ix week ago. I . till e her. I can ee her looking up at me from the bed, her eye gla y and her check flu hed from fe, r. After he had died. Dad and I came here for a '' hile. We thotwht that we would b able to re t and try to tart a n w life aaain- with– out mother. Ever · morning I walk along th beach and think of m mother. I even pretend that h' i walking right be ide me. I reall) don't know how I can get on without mother. orne morning I don't feel lik tayina aliv . I know it' awful to think like thi . but I ju t can't help it. Dad and I ha,·e never b n veq lo e. I don't mean that we don't g t along or anything like that; it' j u t that we're both o,·erly h). and we ne,·er kn '' "hat to .a) when we're alone. h. but he tric ·; Dad really trie \'Cl') hard. I fina11 · reached the woman, and tood looking at her from the )ard. The wind billowed her kirt around her hort leg . The hair queaked with ea h rock. I looked at her hand.. a rna s of thin wrinkl , lying limp on her lap. Th y were wollen a ffi) mother' were. There he at completely at ea e. looking out to the ca. '·Hello." I aid. ''Hello." H r ,-oice wa oft. I wait d. Then I aw her lo\\ ly look around at me. he looked at m idewi e and curiou ly. He tired face relaxed. Her faint mil wa meaning£ul. "You're ne" here. aren't you? I kno'"' everyone in thi Yillage. I at down quietly and an wered "Ye . my father and I mO\·ed into one of the mall cottage b) the jet– t}. M) name i Beth Tearne ·. I lik to walk al ng the beach a lot, but I\·e n ,·er been down thi far. I lo,·e it, the beach I mean. It' wider here than up my "a). and ther eem to b mor hell too." he continued to tare into the ru hing water but her expre 10n had changed. I could tell that he wa. lonely. I wanted to talk to her. ··well, everyone ay that thi part of the beach i nic' t, deane t too. I like any beach, "hether the and is white or not. I ,.e grown up be ide the ocean. and I\·e watched it for eighty-on year . I carne her after my hu band wa killed in the war, and I don't e,·er want to I a,·e it." Her eye found mine. ··I could tell that you, too. liked th a. I wa watching you playing on the beach bela", ju. t a I u.ed to." Her face broke into a definite .mile, and I milcd ba k. ··I ··n~n u.ed to look like you.' I wa. glad, oh o glad. Her hand. unfolded, and he rc ted them on the arm. of the chair. "i\Iayb I'm the onl) pe1 on he' had to talk to for a long time .. .'' I thought. I hop o. ''When did your hu band die?" I a ked timidly. '·Morton and I were married for one year before he enli ted. Two year later I recei,·ed a letter telling me of hi death on the battlefield. ' I thought of 11othcr. he had not been killed. Her death had been painle . h • went on, " \ \'e pent our fir t \'acation at th ea hore. 11orton 10\·ed it. He u ed to go deep- ea fi h– ing with the i lander . Once he brought home a ixt)-pound tuna. IMPRE IO~ \.,