By June of 1947 Lewis had been gone a year. Things at home were not good. Dad was in his early 40’s and he was watching his dream and his money go down the tube. Life at best was down to the bare necessities and he was depressed and angry. He had worked hard and expected better returns on his efforts but it just wasn’t to be. Ulcers, anger and temper controlled him at that time. We had all run out of good expectations and mom and I were constant targets for his anger. It is hard to write this but in truth it set the course of my life.

Grandma Stricklett and aunt Mary were going to visit aunt Inabelle and uncle Tom in Virginia. They began their trip by coming to see us at Tyrone and asked if I would like to go with them. Of course I did and I could tell it didn’t set well with dad but at that time it was an opportunity to get away from the problems at home. When they left I was with them.

The long hours in the car seeing scenery go by my window State after State gave me new incite to the geography lessons from Miss Adams. When we arrived in Falls Church where aunt Inabelle and uncle Tom lived we settled in for a 5-week stay. Of course we toured the area surrounding Washington D.C. with their expert knowledge and experience. It was a wonderful education for me and provided a respite from the troubles of Tyrone. By mid-July we headed back to Missouri where grandma and aunt Mary would stay a few days before going home to Blair.

After they left dad’s anger re-emerged and was mostly directed at me. He didn’t like the fact I had gone off on a “vacation” and left all the work to him and mom. It got so bad that anything I did angered him. I was pouring my heart out to mom who was torn between it all and she told me she knew a place in Cabool where they wanted help. It was the ice-cream parlor next to the movie theatre and she said maybe I could get a job there and get away from it all. In my 15-year old mind it sounded like the perfect solution and I reasoned that if I left dad would no longer make mom so sad.

All the time we were growing up Louis and I heard the story over and over about how dad left home when he was 15-years old and never went back except to visit. Louis left home early to join the Army so I felt it was time for me to go as well. At that time there was a milk truck that made the rounds to pick up milk in the community and when his last pick-up for the day was made he drove into Cabool to empty at the Creamery. It was common for people who wanted a ride into “town” to flag him down and hop aboard.

The next day I was standing at the road waiting for him to come. Mom had 50 cents that she gave me and the few clothes I had were in a brown paper sack. Dad had gone for the day so my leaving was not an issue. I climbed into the truck and settled down for the 18-mile ride. My feelings were mixed with leaving what I had always known and looking forward to charting my own course. I hoped mom would have a better life with me gone and to this day I do not know if that was true. She wasn’t one to talk about her troubles so she never volunteered and I never asked.

Once we were at Cabool the driver stopped on Main Street for me to get out and I headed for the ice cream parlor. The man and wife who owned it were very nice and I had seen them a time or two when I was with mom and dad. I told them who I was and that mom had said they wanted help……. I came looking for a job. They looked sympathetic but told me they had decided to get along without another waitress.

Of course I was panic stricken. I couldn’t go back home to my father’s rage and I had no where else to go…….I was desperate. I pleaded my case, telling them I had left home and couldn’t go back……..I knew it would be worse for me and my mother as well.

They heard me out and decided to talk it over in the back of the shop. I waited on a stool at the counter with my heart in my throat……..I had to have a job…..

Tomorrow, the decision……..
Until then,

Essentially Esther