Far from Home: Memories of World War II and Afterward

1. A Trip North

1 A Trip North 1 A slumber did my spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. William Wordsworth, “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” THE BUS droned along the highway on its way to Washington, D.C. I watched the peaceful countryside roll by, with banks on each side covered with shortleaf pine and cedar trees and patches of snow here and there. Could this really be me, Mary Herring, not even a year out of school, who had never traveled this far alone before? I had never planned this. The summer of 1942 had been spent about like the rest of my summers in Iron Mine, North Carolina, working on the farm, following my sister Eunice when and wherever I could and enjoying having two little nieces to play with, Della and Maxine. Then Papa’s cousin Mary Fennell, from Washington, D.C., came for a visit. I’d never met her. We took to each other right away. She was large and comfortable and very nice-looking. My deafness didn’t faze her at all. She told Mama and Papa about the special hospital up there just for ear, eye, nose, and throat ailments and 2 FAR FROM HOME that they should send me up there the first chance they got, and she’d get me tested and see if anything could be done about my hearing. Neither Papa nor I paid that much mind, but I could see that Mama had found hope. She did so much want me to hear, but I had decided long ago to make the best of my life, one way or the other. My hearing went very gradually when I was in the fourth grade. At first it was hard to communicate with hearing people but I kept talking and learned to read lips. Some people would write me notes. If pen and paper were not available, some people would take my hand and trace the words on to it. Although Eunice was married and supposedly living in Richmond , Virginia, she was home as much as she was up there. I’d been visiting her when Cousin Mary said for me to come to Washington . So, here I was, on my way to the city. The construction jobs that Eunice’s husband went on often took him to out-of-theway places, and she would spend those times at home. My thoughts turned to the past summer and home. I had missed Queen, my pet dog, terribly at first, but I gradually got used to being without her. Only when I’d wander about the fields and go out to the pond did it seem that she was still trotting along with me. The bus stopped to pick someone up, and I looked out the window. I was always interested in new places when I would see them. After the newest passenger was settled, the bus started up again, and so did my thoughts of home and the past few months. In spite of the war, it had been a happy summer and fall of 1942. When it was time to return to Raleigh and the North Carolina School for the Blind and Deaf, I felt funny, sort of misplaced or something, and I missed the kids and Miss Watford, in fact, the whole campus. I think what I missed most was the ease with which I could join in a conversation, know what was being said, and put in my two cents’ worth. Now I was back to looking in on conversations and guessing, unless Mama or Sam spelled A Trip North 3 it out for me. Some of the girls in the crowd, mainly Gladys, Doris, Edna, and Otelia Hayes, would keep me informed. I’d had two other friends who’d do that, but they had moved away. Berthena had moved to Philadelphia, where she’d had a nice wedding and married her longtime sweetheart, Johnny Rea. The other girl was Lena Mae, who I believe went to New York. But mostly, I kept a paperback suspense story handy to read while others talked. I would even take it to the table at mealtime. I knew that was illmannered , but I wanted something to keep my mind busy. I’d had several letters from my friends Hill and Flossie. New leaders had since...