Helen had given Dickie strict instructions to stay out of his grandmother’s way. When lunchtime rolled around, he was to slip quietly into the kitchen and prepare himself a sandwich. He understood the reason for his mother’s instruction. Mammaw was still sad. Except for that time when that girl named Sally came to visit, she had seldom moved from the sofa. Even when she sat down at the supper table, she barely ate anything and that was really bothering him. He heard his Mama tell his Daddy that his grandmother would die if she didn’t eat. No way that he wanted to see the same thing happen to Mammaw, that happened to Uncle Buddy.
For the last month, Dickie had been working on a plan to help Mammaw. He gave considerable thought as to what he could do to make her feel happy again. Maybe he could make her something but he had no idea what that would be. How about buying her a gift? That was immediately ruled out since he didn’t have any money. He even gave thought to cleaning her house. Annie had already done that for her and it definitely didn’t do anything to cheer her up, at least that he could see. Was there anything that Mammaw ever told him that made her truly happy? And then he remembered something that she had told him on several occasions. Mammaw said, “My favorite time is when it’s just you and me, and we talk.”
He remembered what happened a few weeks before when his Daddy wanted to have a talk with his Mom. That was a disaster. But, then again, Mammaw wasn’t like his mother. Now seemed like his best opportunity yet. But where? Not in the living room with Buddy’s pictures on her lap. Someplace else. And then the lightbulb went off but he would have to disobey his Mom to make it happen.
To avoid disturbing Mable, Dickie walked around the house and used the rear entrance that opened directly into the kitchen. From the refrigerator, he removed a block of cheese and a package of bologna. In the cupboard, he found a loaf of bread and then all he needed was the jar of mustard that was already sitting on the table. Then he went to the sink drainer and removed two plates and two glasses. Dickie proceeded to make two sandwiches and then returned the sandwich ingredients to the refrigerator from which he removed a bottle of milk.
“Mammaw?” called Dickie, hoping for a response.
“What is it?” came the reply.
“Can you come here, please?”
Mable stood up. “Is everything alright in there?”
“Yes, mam. Just need you to come in here.”
When Mable entered the kitchen, Dickie pulled out that chair that she always sat in. “Come have a seat?”
“What’s going on?” said Mable, who then sat down with a puzzled expression on her face.
Dickie then placed the sandwich he had made in front of her and poured her a glass of milk.
“What’s this for?” asked Mable, impressed by his kindness.
“Mama said that if you don’t eat you’re going to die. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“I’m OK, sweetheart. Mammaw’s just had a hard time lately.”
“Remember how you told me that your favorite thing to do was for you and me to talk.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, we’re going to have that talk.”
Mable chuckled at his persistence. “What did you want to talk about?”
“It’s time for you to stop being so sad. I want my happy Mammaw back.”
“Oh, Dickie. I want that, too. The kind of sadness that I have, you can’t just turn on or off. It takes a long time. You have to heal first.”
“It has been a long time. Too long.”
“When I say a long time, I’m talking about years, not just a few months.”
Dickie pointed to the stool sitting in front of the sofa. “How many times have you sat me on that stool to make me memorize verses from the Bible and the Lord’s Prayer?”
“Quite a few, I guess.”
“And just about every time you told me how I should always trust in the Lord even when times got bad. He always has our best interest at heart. Sometimes it may seem that he’s not there, but he is. He’s just working things out for us behind the scenes. You told me to believe that right?”
“I did.”
“And that he will never ever leave us?”
“I said that, too.”
“Did you tell me the truth?”
“Of course, I did.”
“Then it’s time to start acting like it.”
It was like Mable had just been to church and the pastor preached a message that stepped all over her toes. “Out of the mouths of babes,” said Mable.
“What?”
“Out of the mouths of babes…thou hast perfected praise.” Dickie had just helped her reaffirm the faith that she thought she had lost forever. That affirmation didn’t take away the pain but it did restore her hope.”
The smile on Mammaw’s face spoke volumes. It was like sunshine for his soul. “You and me have always been best friends, right?” said Dickie.
“Yes, we have. And I’m so glad that we had this little talk.”
“Me, too,” said Mable who smiled again, bigger than before, and called him to her side of the table for a long awaited hug. “You’ve got some big shoes to fill.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nobody could ever replace your Uncle Buddy. But God gave you to me and for that, I am very thankful. I can’t believe I missed it.”
When Helen returned home that afternoon, she was shocked to see her mother outside working in her flower bed. “What happened to Mama?” called Helen as soon as she opened the car door.
Dickie looked up from his toy soldiers, flashed a big smile, and then went back to playing. Mammaw had already told him what was going to happen. And it did, just as she said. At the supper table, Mable gave Helen her walking papers. “Time you take your family back home and get on with your life. We’re going to get through this. All of us.”
Epilogue
The Polks never did get over the loss of their son but the pain eventually subsided and they successfully put their lives back together. Mable even realized that her faith never left her as she had imagined. Real faith is like the electrical power in a house. It can’t be seen but it does amazing things when you need it.
Sally Duffy
Sally changed her major to childhood education and graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1956. After receiving her teaching certificate, she was hired to teach 3rd grade at Strasburg Elementary. Later in the school year, in the spring of 1957, when the Weirichs moved back to Strasburg from Middletown, Sally became Dickie’s teacher. In 1960, she married a high school teacher from Woodstock and lived there until her death in 2007.
Donnie Turner
One tour of Marine duty was enough for Donnie. After his discharge, he took a job in Winchester as a policeman where he worked until he retired in 1990. He married Wendy Electrolux Williams. He learned, as is sometimes the case, a few years after high school the not so pretty girls get pretty and the pretty girls, well, we’ll leave it at that.
Bobbie Jean Beeler
Bobbie did quite well for herself and eventually became the Administrator at Shenandoah Memorial Hospital. Her love life improved substantially. Married a doctor and became the mother of two children.
Trudy Miller
Trudy never did finish her degree at Madison College in Harrisonburg but she did attain her dream of having a house full of children, 6 to be exact.
Roxanne Smitherman
Roxanne became the first lady congressman from the state of North Carolina.
Eddie Johnson
Eddie was court-martialed, sentenced to 3 months in prison and then dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps. After the Corps, he went to work for his Dad’s automobile dealership, quickly became the top salesman, and took over the business in 1961.
Mable Polk
Mable spent the rest of her life doing what she loved. She cooked fabulous meals for her family, relatives, and friends, worked in her flower garden, and never missed a church service or a tithe offering. At the end o
f the lawn on the west side of the house on Capon Street, there was an embankment upon which she planted numerous plants and flowers. From time to time strangers would stop by just to thank her for sharing such a work of beauty. But all that loveliness couldn’t match the beauty of her heart. She was 83 when she died in 1981.
Charlie Polk
From the day he heard the news of Buddy’s death, Charlie never smoked or drank again. He never told anyone why but Mable knew. It was the fulfillment of a promise that he had made to his son. Charlie continued to work for the Viscose Corporation until his retirement in 1962. For the remainder of his years, he returned to his roots and devoted his time to the farming he loved. He preceded Mable in death by 9 months. He died in 1980 at the age of 83.
Woody Weirich
Woody struggled with some serious health issues for much of his life which ultimately led to his resignation from his position with the American Viscose Corporation in 1957. Soon after he moved his family back to Strasburg where he and Helen purchased the only home they ever owned. A year later, Woody died at the age of 44.
Helen Weirich
Helen remarried within a month of Woody’s death in 1958. Then, in 1961, she was paralyzed from a stroke. She died in a nursing home in 1984 at the age of 64.
Dickie Weirich
At Dickie’s Dad’s funeral in ’58, Charlie told Mable that they had another son to raise. Soon after, Dickie spent most of his time with his grandparents and then made it his permanent home after Helen’s stroke in ’61. And the rest is covered in the author’s bio. Yep, you figured it out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Weirich writes from the perspective of his numerous life experiences that include professional musician, radio personality, pastor, and advertising sales executive.
Richard grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and immediately after high school was accepted into the U.S. Navy Band as a trombonist. While in the Navy Band, he became interested in radio, enrolled in the Tidewater School of Broadcasting and quickly landed his first radio job in Norfolk, Virginia.
For 30+ years Richard was the Burt half of the popular morning radio duo of Burt and Kurt, entertaining listeners in Jackson, Mississippi; Tampa, Florida; Houston, Texas; and Birmingham, Alabama.
In Birmingham, Richard prepared for the ministry at Southeastern Bible College and Samford University, which led to a fifteen-year ministerial career serving as pastor of several Alabama churches.
He has been married to Janet for more than 40 years and has two sons, Sean, and Michael.
Farewell PFC Polk: The End of a Nightmare is Richard’s third novel. The author has also written In the Valley of Hope: Faith Conquers Fear and Fifth Sunday: The Loving Hands Murder.
Farewell PFC Polk: The End of a Nightmare (In the Valley of Hope Book 2) Page 31