Life In A Small Town

"Damn boy, now you got Mary drinking because of all this foolishness over a woman," Lewis told me. "I can't make enough shine for the both of you." He wasn't trying to be cruel; he was trying to make things easier on me with a little humor.

I talked for about an hour, telling them what happened that evening. My words, Molly's words, where I took her and finally the ultimatum I gave Molly; I told them the story and my feelings about everything.

Lewis remarked, "Well if you've done your scouting, ten days is a slow enough stalk boy. "

"Hush Lewis, this isn't one of your hunting stories, this is about William's happiness." Mary was almost crying.

"I'm talked out, going to bed. See you in the morning." I felt like I had worked plowing all day. I guess tension will do that to you.

The next morning I went into the kitchen to make coffee. Lewis and Mary were both there which was a little unusual. Normally, I don't see Lewis until I come home and Mary is just getting up as I leave for work. This morning Mary was flitting around the kitchen cooking breakfast. The coffee was already made and Lewis was drinking a cup.

Mary was cooking enough food for six or seven people and smiling and Lewis had a "canary that ate the cat" grin on his face. Something was going on, but I couldn't get a handle on what.

"Bout time you got up, you're burning daylight boy," Lewis said with an evil smile.

"How can I be burning daylight? Its 4:20 and still dark outside. What's got you two up so early?

"Nothing special, just thought we would watch the sunrise this morning," Uncle Lewis answered. Again the evil grin on his face.

Now I knew something was going on. Lewis and Mary both had watched a lot of sunrises running this farm for all those years. Why would they decide to watch a sunrise now? I filled my travel mug with coffee and told them good bye. "I'll be home for supper, Aunt Mary. Don't want to stay at Molly's until I get an answer, and maybe not then. Anyway see y'all tonight."

I left the kitchen to go to my truck and could hear Lewis and Mary follow me into the yard. What the hell is going on, I thought? As I looked out at my truck, my question was answered. Molly, with a cup of coffee, was leaning against the front fender of my truck.

Molly smiled a little and said, "I thought you were going to sleep all day Will. I wanted to talk to you about rebuilding the barn with new siding. If you do the work, we'll only have to spend about five thousand for materials. And when we get married, I can quit paying you $300 a week and will be able to pay for the materials real quick. What do you think?"

I was speechless. The old silver tongued devil couldn't think of anything to say except..."What? Barn? Married?"

"You do still want to marry me, don't you? I mean you did give me ten days to make up my mind but I didn't think I had to wait the whole ten days. I can wait until then if you want me to," Molly kidded me.

In a more serious voice Molly continued, "I was trying to tell you yes I wanted to marry you last night, but I couldn't talk over the noise of the pipes on your bike and you rode off before I could get you to stop." My answer was to grab her and hang on for my life. It took us better than five minutes to get to a point that we could let go of each other.

We went back to the house and as we walked into the kitchen, I saw Lewis and Mary kissing too. They let go of each other, Lewis reached down and patted Mary on the rear. It gave me hope to see a couple that were that old, (they are both in their seventies) and that have been together for so long to still have feelings of love like that.

Maybe there has been a better breakfast at sometime or somewhere but I don't believe it. The combination of a great country breakfast, my family, Lewis and Mary, and Molly sitting by my side made this the best meal ever. After the food was put on the big kitchen table, Aunt Mary and Molly started making plans for the wedding. Flowers, dresses, who to invite, and all the other things that only a woman could think of.

While the women were planning, Lewis and I talked about important things. Did the tractor need engine work, what should we plant after the corn was in, and maybe we should hire a neighbor boy to exercise the horses and mules, since we didn't have the time to do so. A lot of real life things that are important to a farm. Even to a hobby farm.

After breakfast and the planning session by the women, I suggested that Molly and I head back to her place. We needed to get a start on getting the corn and other crops harvested before the fall rains came. Molly followed me back me to her farm in her truck. She must have gotten to Lewis and Mary's while I was in the shower because I hadn't heard her drive up.

As far as any real work, there wasn't much done that day. Molly and I spent the day affirming our love for each other, discussing future plans, and just being together. No crops were harvested that day. It meant we would have to work harder over the next few days, but we didn't mind. This time spent together was worth the extra work we would have later.

I was informed that "we" wanted an outdoor wedding, so next June, the Saturday after the Memorial Day weekend, was the projected date for the ceremony. Our lives didn't change very much for the next few months. The major difference was that I moved in with Molly on a permanent basis. I would go from our place to Lewis', help with the chores there and come back to Molly's.

Other than the change of residence things were pretty much the same. Molly and I still made trips to town on Fridays and took the Harley for rides on Sunday.

There was one trip that I made by myself. One Friday I took a day trip on the Harley to Poplar Bluff, about one hundred miles round trip. The "Bluff" is a "city" of about 17 thousand and the biggest town in the area. Van Buren is a very nice place, but it doesn't really have a jewelry store. We had decided to have plain gold bands as our rings but I wanted an engagement ring for Molly, hence the trip to Poplar Bluff.

The accounts that I inherited had been transferred to Southern Missouri Bank in Van Buren. I chose Southern Missouri because Uncle Lewis was a long time customer and I didn't know anyone at the only other bank in town. I had added the money from selling the house to the account, so the total amount was about two hundred thousand dollars. I wouldn't be getting married with just the shirt on by back. After stopping to get cash, I rode to Poplar Bluff.

I didn't have a need for the money until now. Living with Uncle Lewis and Aunt Mary free of charge as it were and the salary I got from Molly had met all my needs up till now. There were several repairs, renovations, and additions to "our" farm that I wanted to make and I plan to use my money to make them. Molly brought the land to the marriage; I would bring the operating capital.

After checking out several jewelry stores I finally found a beautiful ring. My business completed, I headed back home. On my way back, I thought about the small changes in town toward Molly and me too I guess. People seemed to thaw a little toward us. Not everyone, but enough to notice the change. Molly had always remained polite, courteous, and friendly toward the town people she dealt with or saw on the streets and in the stores. Me, I had adopted an attitude of "screw you" when they continued to give us a hard time.

Either Molly's efforts at being pleasant and friendly were turning the tide or the fact that she was going to marry a local guy, me, made the difference. Maybe me toning down my in your face attitude helped too. I wasn't sure what the reason, but it made it a little easier on Molly, and I was all for that. Maybe I should adjust my attitude toward those people and be more friendly too.

On our normal Sunday ride, I took Molly back to Black Bluff. We hiked up to the overlook and I got down on one knee and again asked her to marry me, as I put the ring on her finger. She grabbed me, looked at the ring and started to cry a little. All and all, it was the best Sunday ride we have ever taken.

During the later fall, winter and early spring we did the jobs on the farm that the weather allowed us to. Molly and I split our time between our place and Lewis and Mary's. They just couldn't keep up with everything on their farm and I wouldn't allow them to hire someone to help. No need for that as long as I was around.

Around the beginning of April I was in town with Molly and ran into Jim Barnes, my old running buddy. Molly continued shopping, leaving Jim and I to visit and talk about old times. We went to the only tavern in town to have a couple of beers. Jim mentioned that the people in town were warming up to Molly a little, but there was still some resentment or whatever against her

.

I invited him personally to our wedding and told him I would let him know the details as to when and where as soon as I found out. We laughed and joked about men only having to show up on time dressed properly and that women took care of everything else. He made a comment that it was too bad the rest of the town couldn't see our commitment to living here. We finished our beer, said good bye and I went to join up with Molly.

On the drive home I was thinking about what Jim said about showing our commitment to the area.

An idea was beginning to take shape but I needed to bounce it off someone that knew the people around here and that I trusted. Uncle Lewis, who else would I turn to?

Molly and I stopped at Lewis' on the way home. I left Molly with Aunt Mary and asked Uncle Lewis to join me in the barn. He always kept a small wood stove going in the winter to make it more comfortable for the animals and it would be a warmer place to talk than out in the weather. We got to the barn and Lewis dug out a jug, just to help with the chill.

After warming up with the jug, I told Uncle Lewis my idea and plan. "What'da ya think Uncle Lewis? Will it work?"

He thought about it for a minute and answered, "It just might work. If nothing else it sure will be interesting." Then he laughed real loud and said, "Hell boy, it will be the biggest challenge this little town ever saw. Go for it."

Lewis said he would get Mary to put her wedding plans on hold until I had a chance to talk to Molly. If Molly agreed they could start planning according to my idea. Now for the hardest part, I had to convince Molly that my idea was a good one.

Molly was a non confrontational type of person. She wasn't weak or a coward, she just didn't see the need to fight with people all the time. Molly was a fighter, but she picked her battles. She was more subtle and would work behind the scenes as it were. My idea was a big in your face offer of friendship and the hell with you if you don't accept it to the town.

After supper we sat in the living room with our coffee and discussed the day and the plans for the next day as we usually did. A few minutes of silence from me and she asked if anything was wrong. That I had been quiet since we left town.

I looked at her and smiled, "Molly I have an idea for the wedding that is really off the wall. I think it will accomplish much more than just getting us hitched. Will you listen with an open mind?"

She agreed to hear my idea without interrupting. I out lined my idea, the thought process to get there and what I hoped would happen if we did what I planned. Molly listened to everything I said, asked a few questions and thought for a few minutes.

"William, this will be a great way to show people that we are here for the long haul. Let's do it."

My plan was simple, if somewhat strange. Molly, Mary and I began put everything together. As the proposed wedding day approached, we obtained our marriage license, permits, set up flowers and all the other things involved in staging a wedding. Then I contacted the last player necessary for my plan. The Current Local newspaper.

The Current Local is the local newspaper and is published once a week. It is printed on Monday and distributed the next day. Everyone in the general area either reads this paper or talks to people who do read it. Our wedding was to be on the Saturday after the Memorial Day weekend and I was going to buy a full page ad for the four weeks prior to the wedding. I would have the paper print a letter on the front page from Molly and me to all the people in the area. The ones that didn't get the paper would hear about it from those that did. If the people didn't warm up to Molly and me after this, then they could all go to hell. Molly and I would still have each other.

This is the letter I had printed on the front page of the Current Local:

TO THE PEOPLE OF VAN BUREN AND THE NEARBY FARMS,

Hi, my name is Will Connelly. I'm the grand-nephew of Lewis and Mary Connelly. Some of you remember me from the summers I spent here as a boy and young man. I have heard from several people that I am considered a "local" because of those summers and because of my kin here. It's nice to be thought of that way.

Most of you have been polite, courteous, and friendly to me since I came back to live with Lewis and Mary. Some of you haven't been that glad to see me, but that's okay. You are all entitled to your opinion and we all have our likes and dislikes. It's only human nature.

The reason for this letter is some of you haven't extended the same welcome to my fiancée, Molly Swanson. Most of the people she has dealt with in town have been at best begrudgingly polite but never friendly. As far as I can see she has been nothing but nice to everyone she has met.

I know some of you hold it against her because she was born up north, a Yankee in your mind. Molly and her husband bought one of the farms and it must not have set right with you that a Yankee owned property here. To make things worse, Molly's husband made it clear he didn't like it here and insulted the whole town. It wasn't Molly that voiced those insults, but many of you held her guilty by association.

Molly loves this area so much that she gave up her marriage because she didn't want to leave her farm. Her husband left her and divorced her. Now she is a divorced woman and you don't like her because of that. Molly had three strikes against her and some of you didn't give her a chance to show what a good neighbor she can be. To those that didn't give her the benefit of the doubt, shame on you. To those of you that were open minded enough to give her a chance; bless you.

To all of you: The people that gave Molly a chance and to those that didn't, to the ones who like me and the ones that dislike me, and to all of those people in between, Molly & I extend an invitation.

Molly and I are going to be married on June 3rd in the town square on the court house steps. You are all invited to join us for the ceremony. Come to meet us, come to help us celebrate, or come to sneer at us, but please come.

There will be a reception on the court house grounds after the wedding. If you come to the party, please bring a dish as it will be sort of a pot luck dinner. Molly and I will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, soda, tea, and beer. There might even be a jug of "shine" hidden somewhere.

Give us a chance to show you that we are here for the long haul. Molly and I are here to stay.

With your friendship or without it, we are here to stay.

Thanks and y'all come to the party.

Will & Molly.

Molly and Aunt Mary thought I had been a little harsh in some places in the letter. Uncle Lewis didn't think I got on the gossips and busy bodies enough.

"Tell them all to go to the devil boy, you and Molly don't need those kind of idiots," Lewis said. "You have Mary and I and a few others. The hell with the rest of them."

"If it were just me, I would Uncle Lewis. But Molly and I plan to stay here and hopefully have a family. It would be too hard on Molly and our kids to have to put up with that stuff. This is the only way I could think of to get to all the people," I replied to him.

*****************

Five years have gone by since our wedding. Uncle Lewis was my best man and Aunt Mary, Molly's matron of honor. The wedding was a big success and many friendships have developed with the people that attended.

According to the last census there are less than nine hundred residents in Van Buren. Add another seventy five to one hundred from the surrounding farms and that still is less than one thousand men, women, and children in the area. As close as we could count there were close to twelve hundred people at the wedding and the reception.

Some of them came to see the idiot that would write and print such a letter, some came to meet and get to know us and some were friends that came to help us celebrate.

If you didn't have a good time or if you went home hungry, it was your own fault. We had a regular cornucopia of food and drink. Enough to feed everyone three times over. Three of the men brought their guitars and a fiddle so we had music and dancing. Uncle Lewis presided over the jugs of shine and every time someone came for a taste he would say, "This shine is compliments of William and Molly." Then he would laugh that huge laugh of his and take a drink himself. Sheriff Steele helped Mary get him home; he was in no shape to walk much less drive.

The attitude of most of the town people changed toward Molly and me after the wedding. There were still some people that didn't care for us but that's okay, you can't please everyone. My plan worked and showed everyone that we want this to be our home. Consequently the attitudes in town were better. Things didn't change overnight, but they did steadily improve.

About two months after the wedding, Molly and I made a trip to St. Louis to get the things I had put in storage after my parent's death.

Everything was brought back to the house to be assimilated into our home. We were resting after the last item was unloaded from the truck when the phone rang. I answered with my usual "Hello."

"Who's this?" I heard.

"Who's this?" I replied. I knew it was Molly's ex, but I wanted to yank his chain a bit.

"This is Gerald Swanson," he replied with a self important tone in his voice. "Let me speak to my wife."

"You ain't got no wife here Gerald." I couldn't help but put on the hayseed act just to wind him up a little.

"Where else would she be? There's nothing to do in that god forsaken place. I insist that you put my wife on the phone at once," Gerald ordered.

"Gerald, Molly ain't your wife anymore. You ran off and left her and then had divorce papers served on her. You didn't even have the guts or decency to do it in person."

"Now see here................" Gerald started.

"Shut up and listen. Molly is my wife now. If you ever call here again with the lack of respect you've shown tonight, I will personally come to whatever hell hole you live in and rip out your tongue. Do you understand me, Gerald?"

There was silence and finally after almost a minute, I heard, "Yes I understand. I'm sorry."

Molly had been listening to my side of the call and was trying to keep from laughing as I handed her the phone. I left Molly and Gerald to talk and went out onto the porch for my one cigar of the day. I had been sitting in a rocker with my cigar and a cup of coffee for about fifteen minutes and Molly came out to join me. I pulled her down onto my lap and we watched the lightning bugs for a few minutes.

"Don't you want to know what that was all about Will?" Molly couldn't understand my lack of interest in her phone call.

"Figured you'd tell me if I needed to know," I answered. "Didn't think it were my business."

"Don't play the country bumpkin with me William Ambrose Connelly," Molly said a little perturbed.

When I started laughing, she realized that I was playing with her. "I was going to wait about ten more minutes and then start the interrogation," I said with a grin.