The Girl in the Tobacco Barn
In my Internal Medicine practice, I see many
remarkable people as patients. Many of my patients are elderly and sometimes
their stories represent another era in time. I often try to seek out these
stories as I find them fascinating. Here is one such story.
The story starts in the early 1940’s in a tobacco farm
in a small town in Eastern North Carolina. In those days, tobacco was a major
cash crop and tobacco farms were everywhere.
The tobacco was harvested and brought to tobacco
barns. There the tobacco leaves were sorted and hung out to dry on sticks that
were placed on the rafters and the sides of the barns. The process of sorting
the tobacco leaves was time consuming, and very hard work. It was particularly
difficult in the high heat of the summer when temperatures would soar.
These barns still exist in North Carolina and dot the
landscape, but they are no longer used and are usually seen in various stages
of disrepair.
In one of these barns was a young girl, maybe 15 or 16
years of age. She was helping out in the family tobacco farm. The tobacco had
been harvested and she was helping sort it out and hanging it up to dry. She
remembers that her hands were covered in tobacco tar, she was in a work dress
and her hair was messy.
It was then the iceman showed up, delivering blocks of
ice for the icebox on the farm. In those days, before electricity was common,
this was the form of refrigeration. He was a young man, perhaps 17 years old.
His eyes fell on this young girl and he fell in love with her.
He asked her parents if he could take her out. They
agreed, but in those days going out meant having a chaperone with you. They went
out and got along very well, but war clouds were rolling over and after the
attack on Pearl Harbor, our iceman signed up to join the navy.
In the navy, he was on a destroyer manning an
anti-aircraft gun. At one time he saw a torpedo heading straight for the ship.
As he and his crew mates braced for the impact and possible death, a strange
thing happened. A wave lifted the ship and the torpedo passed harmlessly
underneath. He later attributed this small miracle to his mother’s prayers.
That night he wrote a long letter to his tobacco girl
expressing his feelings for her and his desire to marry her. She never got the
letter.
In the meantime, she had also met another suitor who
was interested in her, but she could not forget her iceman. She also wrote a
letter to him, but unfortunately he also never received the letter. Fate had
however destined them for each other and she decided to wait for him.
They met again when he got back and eventually got
married. This was seventy years ago. They are still married today.
They both began to work at a local mill in town. They
eventually had six daughters. They were both very religious and regular members
of their church. They lived in his childhood home. All their daughters grew up
to be strongly religious women. They all got married and had their own children
and grandchildren.
At their 50th marriage anniversary, their
church had a special event for them. At that time the former iceman recounted
how he fell in love with his wife after seeing her hands stained with tobacco
tar, and that she remained the love of his life.
His wife is now in her late eighties and recounted
this story to me when she came to see me as a patient. She acted mildly annoyed
that the main thing he remembers about that first meeting was her tar stained
hands. She however continues to love him deeply.
He is now in a nursing home after developing dementia.
She lives with one of her daughters and is increasingly frail. She however
brightens up at the mention of her husband and can recount in detail the story
their initial meeting and courtship.
Such stories may seem out of place in today’s fast
paced world, but I find it extremely heartwarming. The love and affection my
patient still has for her husband is absolutely wonderful to see.
An old tobacco barn
Hands stained with tobacco tar
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