Chapter 1, Episode 2, January 1999 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Chapter 1 - Lori and Karen (Point of view) - Episode 2

Last paragraph from Episode 1:

[Lori knew this story well, having heard it many times over the ensuing twelve years. She knew that Beverly had, in deference to her husband and her children, agreed to stay and try to live out her husband’s vision, for the children’s sake. However, she also knew that within weeks, Beverly had freaked out, again, and returned to Jackson. Paul and the children had stayed, and lived up to the family obligations under the will. The Trust, Paul, Beverly and the lawyers worked out a divorce and a settlement wherein Paul and their children stayed, and Beverly remained, divorced, in Jackson. She eventually remarried, a wealthy, older southern gentleman, if fact. Now, that husband had died, and she had returned to Oak Springs.]

The phone rang, breaking Lori out of her memories. As so often happened when Lori and Karen talked about family relationships, it was Erin on the phone. Lori put the call on the speaker phone so they could all talk.

Erin was calling to see, for sure, when Grandma Karen was planning to come down to Austin for her grand-daughter Jessica’s birthday, on February 6th, which was a Saturday. This was to be a very big event for the family down there. There would be a party for Jessica and five of her little friends from daycare that day. Karen replied that, depending on the weather, of course, she was planning to drive down on Wednesday and Thursday and return home on Monday, if that would work for Erin. Erin said that would be great. They would plan on it. The three women continued to talk about Jessica and family matters for a bit, of course. Lori added she hoped the three of them would be able to come up from Austin in the spring, and Erin agreed that they hoped to also, but didn’t know yet just when it would be.

Lori had just hung up from talking with Erin when the phone rang, again. This time it was Trace Watkins, with the Jensen & Watkins Construction company. Trace was calling to set up an appointment with Lori to go over some concept designs they had been working on for the proposed “Homeplace Estates” housing development. Lori had been expecting his call, but didn’t know which day it would be. She was anxious to keep the process moving along. When he asked if she could be available this evening at 6, she had agreed. Trace said that he and Gary would have pizza and drinks for supper, if that was ok with her, and they could talk about the latest work on the designs.

“Homestead Estates” was a concept that had developed in the two plus years since Lori had moved to Oak Springs. Several family members had mentioned a desire to buy or build homes for the families, and, as they talked, Lori shared her experiences with a group in the Los Angeles area that was in residential housing development. That had led to a meeting with the leading local residential building contractor, Jensen & Watkins, which in turn led to a joint agreement to explore, in detail, the concept of a housing development, in the county, on the Homeplace land, near the pool under the mill. The concept would include, in addition to the residential properties, a common clubhouse, tennis courts, perhaps a Par-3 golf course, access to Oak Creek for canoeing/kayaking, tie-in to the trails system being developed as part of the McDonald Conservancy, and direct access, from the east, to the Bevins Stable and Trail Rides.

When Lori had finished, Karen asked, “What’s the latest on your development?”

“He has the third revisions done to the concept design we discussed at that last Bevins Trust meeting. Hopefully, if everything looks good, we will be ready for final approval and we can start moving dirt when the weather allows, in a month or two. “

Nodding her head, Karen replied, “Good to hear. I think this will be a project the entire extended family will be pleased to get under way. Come to think of it, this is even something that Beverly will probably endorse.”

“Thanks, Mom. That would be nice, for sure. I’ll be sure to bring Beverly up to speed on what we are doing.”

“Now,” Karen added, “before that phone rings, again, I need to make a call.”

Karen called her brother, Bart, to share the news about Beverly’s arrival. To Karen, memories of Beverly were merely a nuisance. For Bart, memories of Beverly contained a lot of hurt.

[To be continued - next Friday]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

January 1999 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

January 1999

This series of posts on each Friday, henceforth, moving forward during 2015 will continue the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Earlier, we have seen the community move from January 1997 through December 1998. We now move into January of 1999, in novel format…

Chapter 1 - Lori and Karen (Point of view) - Episode 1

“Beverly has moved back to Oak Springs, permanently, again!”

Lori repeated what she had just told her mother. Karen, Lori’s mother, thought for sure that she had heard her daughter incorrectly. Beverly, Karen’s younger sister, had a long history of not wanting to visit for any length of time, let alone live in, their home community of Oak Springs. Now, Lori was saying that she was back, for good. Could it really be true?

Lori had just gotten off the phone with her friend, Jaxine Hagen, the Assistant Manager at the Oak Springs Motel, located out near the Ozarks Community College campus on the west side of town. Jaxine had said that Beverly was very clear in her comment on checking in at the Motel, just minutes earlier. They all did know that Beverly was now the owner of the Oak Springs Motel following the death of her second husband, Winnie, the prior fall, but no one expected her to move back here, away from the mansion she lived in, in Jackson, Mississippi. The motel was just another fine investment that she had inherited, they had all assumed. Now, she had said she would be living there, at the motel, right here in Oak Springs.

Karen and Lori were sitting in the office of their the Homeplace Country Inn on the opposite side of Oak Springs, in the east Oak Creek Valley. In the early 1990s, Karen and her husband, Jason, had remodeled her family’s old farmhouse into a modern Country Inn including a large meeting room they called the Heritage Room. The Homeplace Inn now honored the more than 150 years the home farm, the “Homeplace,” had been in her family. They had welcomed the addition of the Oak Springs Motel across the valley because more rooms were needed for the growing agri-tourism and college visitors to the valley in recent years. The Inn and the Motel tended to serve different clients, so they had each thrived together.

In 1959, Beverly had left the Homeplace within days of graduating from high school saying she never planned to come back. Her youth was an unhappy one. She felt she had always been compared to her ultra-successful older sister, Karen, and could never live up to expectations of family or community. She wanted a fresh start, in a new place, and she had chosen Jackson, Mississippi, a few hundred miles to the south of Oak Springs, in the southern Missouri Ozarks mountains. There, in Jackson, she had found work as a secretary in a construction company, married a divorced engineer with a young daughter, and they had two children of their own. As she had promised, she hadn’t come back for many years.

This changed in the fall and winter of 1986-87. In the fall, her widowed mother, Mildred (McDonald) Bevins had died. Mildred left a very unorthodox will that received the full attention of her four surviving children: Karen, Beverly, Bart and Peter. The will required that to be considered for any portion of the inheritance from the estate (including several hundreds of acres of family farm land and substantial cash investments) each of the siblings, now scattered across the country, would be required to commit to live on the farm land in Missouri for a minimum period of two years. Upon hearing this, Beverly had just about “gone ballistic” threatening to sue to break the will and taking any actions necessary to “get her inheritance” for her children.

Karen, Jason, and their four children had been living in Tucson, Arizona, where Jason was a Financial Planner and Karen was a long-time nurse at a local hospital. Jason and Karen made the commitment to return ‘back to the homeplace’ in their motorhome, leaving their youngest son to finish high school in Tucson. Matt, their oldest son, lived in the Boston area with his wife, Susan. They had eventually moved to Oak Springs, in 1996, with their two children, Tyler, nearly 9, and Emily, nearly 6. Lori was living in the Los Angeles area, at the time. Erin, her younger sister, was in college at the University of Texas, in 1987, when her parents moved back to Missouri in response to the will. Erin had since married Mark James and they lived in Austin, Texas, with their daughter, Jessica, who would be 2 next month.

Bart, and his wife, Diane, were the only ones who actually lived on the farm. Bart had left his real estate career to return to run the farm for his mother when his father, Frank, had died of a heart attack ten years earlier. Bart and Diane had assumed that he would continue to farm the land for the family when his mother passed on, many years in the future. That future was now, in 1987, and they found their future very uncertain, as well, both for themselves and their two teen-aged children.

The youngest of the four siblings, Peter, lived in Oregon, where he was a teacher.

Beverly, committed to “getting her share” of the farm and her inheritance, had come to Oak Springs in February of 1987 for the “reading” of Phase II of the will, with some reluctance. She was accompanied by her husband, Paul Gates, and their children, Scott and Heather, still youngsters of 9 and 5, respectively, along with his nineteen year old daughter, Sheila. The “reading” was actually a “video will” that Mildred had made with the assistance of the family attorney, Carter Ogden. Different versions had been made depending on the number of her children who had decided to attend the “reading.” So, when they had gathered, rather than the attorney reading the will, Mildred, on the video screen, spoke directly to each of the children. They were seated around a conference table, in a pre-planned seating arrangement, so that she looked at each one, individually, as she spoke, and told them the plan she and her husband, their father, had developed.

What the children didn’t know, until later, was that the whole point of the unusual exercise was to assure that the Century Farm of her family, the McDonald family, remained intact into the future. The McDonald family had originally settled the land in 1833, shortly after Missouri statehood. Frank and Mildred did not want to see the farm broken up and sold in pieces after all those years of building it to its present state. The will created the Bevin’s Trust to administer the farm land and cash reserves, regardless of how many of the children chose to participate.

Upon hearing and seeing the video will presented, Beverly was initially furious. It just confirmed in her mind how little her parents and siblings “cared about her feelings.” She adopted a totally selfish and self-serving attitude and approach. Fortunately, her husband, Paul Gates, was there to see another side to the situation. He saw an old mill on a creek in a beautiful Ozarks valley along a spring-fed creek running through the farm that could be made into a major tourism attraction with a little tender loving care by a good engineer. He saw a great place to raise their children. He saw a new life for his troubled older daughter, a fresh start for them all.

Lori knew this story well, having heard it many times over the ensuing twelve years. She knew that Beverly had, in deference to her husband and her children, agreed to stay and try to live out her husband’s vision, for the children’s sake. However, she also knew that within weeks, Beverly had freaked out, again, and returned to Jackson. Paul and the children had stayed, and lived up to the family obligations under the will. The Trust, Paul, Beverly and the lawyers worked out a divorce and a settlement wherein Paul and their children stayed, and Beverly remained, divorced, in Jackson. She eventually remarried, a wealthy, older southern gentleman, if fact. Now, that husband had died, and she had returned to Oak Springs.

[To be continued - next Friday]

[Photo Credit - Don Wills]

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

December 1998 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

December 1998

This series of posts on each Friday, so far, during 2015 has continued the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Here is a peek at ‘Life in Oak Springs,’ and the surrounding valley, in December of 1998.

The Oaks Springs Historical and Genealogical Society held a regular monthly meeting at the Oak Springs Public Library on Tuesday evening, December 15. For the program, Sarah (Campbell) Flanders shared some of her research on the Campbell family from 1838 and the history of the Oak Springs Savings Bank. [Follow her story through the links starting here: http://homeplace.wikispaces.com/Campbell+family.] It was announced that election of officers for the 1999 year would be held at the January 1999 meeting.

Out in the east valley, it was noticed that the Visitor Center building for the McDonald Conservancy on the east side of north Highway 37 was now fully enclosed. Work on the interior would apparently continue through the winter.

Oak Springs merchants were in full holiday mode through the month of December. Many new holiday decorations had been added, and the Oak Springs Enterprise was filled with holiday specials.

Among out-of-town visitors for the Christmas holiday was Beverly (Bevins) (Gates) Threshold. This was her first visit back to Oak Springs since the death of her husband, Winnie. She spent Christmas Day with Scott, Rachel and Faith Gates. Heather Gates was also a holiday guest  

*****

We have now arrived at January 1999 when the next novel, “3 Threats to the Homeplace” was supposed to have begun. As many of you will recall, last spring, I published this essay: http://homeplaceseries.hubpages.com/hub/3-Threats-When-is-a-novel-not-a-novel - “When is a novel not a novel.” Since that time I have been exclusively writing 600 to 1250+ word episodes, both in the 1880s stories and here, to bridge the gap from the end of 1997 to the beginning of 1999.

Beginning here next week, I intend to publish adaptations of the first 12 chapters I had drafted of the “3 Threats” novel. The caveat, the adaptations, of course, is to let the characters ‘tell the story’ rather than me trying to force them into an ‘overarching theme.’ My characters didn’t seem to take well to that attempt, earlier, and now we get to see where they take us with these stories in this new, serial, approach.

Readership of these weekly posts has been exceptional in recent months. I hope my stories continue to draw you in. As I’ve said before, I love feedback, so feel free to share your thoughts with me, here, on Facebook, on Google+, or via private email.

Thank you for your continued support!

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Mid-November 1998 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Mid-November 1998

This series of posts on each Friday during 2015 continues the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Here is a peek at ‘Life in Oak Springs,’ and the surrounding valley, in Mid-November of 1998.

The Oaks Springs Historical and Genealogical Society held a regular monthly meeting at the Oak Springs Public Library on Tuesday evening, November 17. Jennifer Kirk presented the program on her experiences using the PAF computer program for storing her researched family history data. Discussion after the meeting was split between those who saw the computer program as a ‘great new tool’ and those who only wanted to continue to use paper records and notebooks as they had always done it. 

A joint press release from The Bevins Trust and the McDonald Conservancy was published in the Oak Springs Enterprise on Wednesday, November 18. It simply stated that agreements had been reached among all parties involved with regard to land assignments and distributions to the various ongoing projects related to the two entities and related individuals. These agreements would allow planning for the individual projects to move forward. Both entities expressed their appreciation to all other entities, both public and private, for their cooperation. Ronnie Cox, Executive Director of the McDonald Conservancy, in response to questions following the press release, added: “We felt it was important to let the public know that these negotiations had been completed. It was one of the loose ends following the awarding of the DNR grant that had held up or delayed some other project planning. Those plans and projects can now move forward.”

Meanwhile, construction work at the McDonald Conservancy Visitor Center on Highway 37 was moving along briskly.

Paul Gates, Manager of the Oak Creek Mill and Mill Market, confirmed that plans for the Par-3 Golf Course near the Mill along the creek were now proceeding forward. He added that clarification of the land ownership interests had opened the way for the golf course planning as well as the modifications to the kayak/canoe portage roads and the proposed new housing development in the area. These would all now be done in concert with the trails system of the McDonald Conservancy funded by each phase of the DNR grant.

Traditional Thanksgiving holiday activities in Oak Springs and the Oak Creek Valley were continued with a focus on “food and football” for most of the local residents.

Thanksgiving Day family gatherings reported included:

1) Harry and Sarah Flanders hosted Jacob Howell, his wife, Lisa Flanders-Howell, and their son, Tommy Howell.

2) Jack and Mona Evans hosted Travis and Laura Inman and their children along with his parents, Grover and Hedda Inman. Mona’s father, Lyle Cunningham, and Jack’s father, Doc Evans, were also among their guests. Late afternoon guests were Christopher, Nicole and C.P. Ogden.

3) Karen and Lori Winslow hosted the extended Bevins family in the Heritage Hall at the Homeplace Country Inn, including:

a) Bart and Diane Bevins; Christopher, Nicole and C.P. Ogden; Brian, Jennifer and Ashley Kirk; Don and Linda Kirk

b) Paul Gates, Julie Barnes, Scott, Rachel and Faith Gates, and Heather Gates

c) Peter, Sheila and Jeremy Bevins

d) Matt, Susan, Tyler and Emily Winslow

e) Mark, Erin and Jessica James, visiting from Austin, Texas

f) Raynor Crimmons and his daughter, Randi, visiting from the Washington, D.C. area

g) Dick and Penny Nixon

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

November 1998 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

November 1998

This series of posts on each Friday during 2015 continues the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Here is a peek at ‘Life in Oak Springs,’ and the surrounding valley, in early November of 1998.

At 4:50 p.m on Thursday, November 5, 1998, the phone rang and Karen Winslow picked it up. It was her sister, Beverly, on the other end of the line, calling from her home in Jackson, Mississippi. “Winnie has died. He had a massive heart attack, late this morning. There was nothing they could do.” Beverly began sobbing. “I’m sorry, I’ll get myself together again. I just cannot believe it. He was so vital, so full of life!”

Karen listened carefully. She had never heard Beverly sound like this, and let her talk, waiting for an opening to reply. “Are you okay, Beverly?” she said. “What can I do for you?”

Beverly sniffed hard, “Can you tell Scott and Heather? I can’t do it over the phone.” More sobbing. “I just can’t.”

“Of course. I’ll go do that, and you call back when you know what comes next. OK?”

“Yes, thank you, Karen. I’ll do that. Just let the kids know. I’ll get back to you when I know about arrangements.” Beverly hung up.

Karen immediately set about locating Scott and Heather and arranging to speak to each of them in person. Her nursing and counseling skills kicked in automatically. She handled the task with ease even with the difficult circumstances. She had gone to the stable to talk to Heather, and then the two of them went to Scott and Rachel’s house to tell them. Lori had agreed to stay by the phone at the Inn in case Beverly called back sooner than expected. She didn’t.

Like Karen, both Heather and Scott were much more concerned about their mother’s mental health condition than the fact that their stepfather had died. He was an old man after all. They barely knew him. He was very nice to them, but he really was their mother’s close companion, not theirs. They expected he would die one day, but were expecting it to be further in the future than turned out to be the case. They were also concerned, of course, about what came next. Karen was a good person to have available to talk to. She assured them the next steps would come in order. It would just be a matter of hurry up and wait, over and over, for a while. They talked about possible approaches until they were comfortable with the most likely outcomes. They had called their father, Paul, and he had joined them at Scott and Rachel’s place. He had assured them that he would accompany them to the funeral in Jackson, if that turned out to be the right thing to do.

And, that is what they did. In addition, Karen, and Bart and Diane, went to the funeral as well. Rachel and baby Faith stayed in Oak Springs, of course; her sister and father were available to assist, as needed. Lori stayed to look after the Country Inn. Peter decided he didn’t need to go. He wasn’t that close to his older sister Beverly, and felt he would only be a distraction.

On their return, Karen summarized their observations when she spoke with Lori. “Beverly was completely composed, again, for the funeral. She acted appropriately, as Winnie would have wanted her to. She introduced us to his children and their families. We were also all surprised that they all knew, already, about Winnie’s distribution of his assets. Apparently he had been very open with his children, and with Beverly. They had a pre-nuptial agreement that was very specific. All of his Mississippi property went to his children, except that Beverly could continue to live in the mansion as long as she wished (as long as she didn’t remarry). All of his Missouri property and interests went to Beverly along with a one million dollar asset fund that was hers without strings. Beverly had seemed perfectly happy in the mansion, made them all feel at home, while they were there, and handled herself as well as anyone could have expected.”

Heather returned to school the day after her return and everyone else went on with their lives as usual.

Over at Bart and Diane’s house, Bart just said one more thing: “Well, I wonder what Beverly will do next.”

Diane replied, “Don’t we all.”

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Mid-October 1998 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Mid-October 1998

This series of posts on each Friday during 2015 continues the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Here is a peek at ‘Life in Oak Springs,’ and the surrounding valley, in mid-October of 1998.

Sunday, October 18, 1998, was a sunny, crisp fall day in Oak Springs and the Oak Creek valley. Families gathered at many homes to enjoy this particular day, each in their own ways.

Peter, Sheila, and Jeremy Gates chose this Sunday to scout the woods along the ridge in the 4-wheel ATVs for future Christmas trees. In another month or so, it would be time to get serious about this task. They enjoyed just being out in the woods, together, of course. From time to time, they stopped to examine a particular area more carefully. Or, a high spot on the ridge provided a distinctive view of the surrounding Ozarks wooded mountains that they want to share. Life was good, on days like these.

Don and Linda Kirk hosted their family for dinner after church, and family time after. This also served as a family one-year birthday party (actual birthday was the 15th, of course) for grandson, C.P., along with his parents, Christopher and Nicole Ogden. Baby Ashley, now in her second month, was also a center of attention, of course. They grow so fast. Young parents, Brian and Jennifer Kirk, were happy to share their baby and realized she would have a first birthday, before they knew it. The other grandparents, Diane and Bart Bevins, were pleased to be invited to join in the celebrations.

Matt, Susan, Tyler and Emily Winslow had invited his mother, Karen, and sister, Lori, to join them for dinner after church, as well. Tyler was now in third grade and Emily had started Kindergarten, earlier in the fall. They enjoyed playing games together and Emily was especially proud to show her grandma some of her art projects from school.

Travis and Laura Inman, Zach and Kyla, hosted the paternal grandparents, Grover and Hedda Inman, on Sunday afternoon, at their home.

Paul and his daughter Heather Gates visited Scott, Rachel and baby Faith on Sunday afternoon. They didn’t stay long, to allow baby and mother to get their rest. They continued to marvel at the miracle of birth that had blessed their family.

The Oak Springs Enterprise on Wednesday, October 28, was filled with advertisements and announcements related to the upcoming weekend Halloween activities for the community. There were also notices of prohibited activities and the penalties for violations.

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)

October 1998 - Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

Life in Oak Springs, the Homeplace

October 1998

This series of posts on each Friday during 2015 continues the stories of “The Homeplace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction families in the area of Oak Springs following the novel “Christmas at the Homeplace,” which ended as 1997 began. Here is a peek at ‘Life in Oak Springs,’ and the surrounding valley, in October of 1998.

Winnie and Beverly (Bevins) (Gates) Threshold arrived at the Oak Springs Motel late Thursday afternoon, October 1, 1998. They had driven up from their home in Jackson, Mississippi, in anticipation of the birth of the first child of Beverly’s son, Scott, and his wife, Rachel. They hoped they were not too late. They had not received word on the car-phone Winnie had in his car, so they assumed they had made it on time. Winnie was known in Mississippi at Winston T. Threshold III, a wealthy local industrialist. Here in Missouri, he insisted on just being “Winnie” the southern gentleman visiting his second wife’s hometown. He had built, and did own, the Oak Springs Motel so their arrival did not go unnoticed by the local staff.

Normally, they stayed northeast of town, in the adjoining county, at the Big Thunder Lodge, where he was a major stockholder and a member of the Board of Directors. A board meeting was his normal excuse to get Beverly to come up and visit her children by her first marriage to Paul Gates, Scott and Heather. She always enjoyed seeing the children, but had also always been reluctant to stay more than a few days in her hometown. She had left for Jackson right out of high school, and at the time, said she would never return. However, in 1987, in order to assure a family inheritance for her children, she had come “Back to the Homeplace” as the wife of Gates and the mother of their two young children. She soon returned ‘home’ to Jackson, divorced Gates, and sometime later, married Threshold. Paul Gates and the children, Scott and Heather, remained in the Oak Springs area to participate in the Bevins Trust, created by Beverly’s parents to preserve the family farm and related assets. They had been very happy living in Oak Springs. For this trip, Winnie had insisted they stay nearby Scott and Rachel at the Oak Springs Motel.

Beverly had come back for Scott’s graduation, both High School and Community College, and his marriage to Rachel (Rachel was one daughter of the local newspaper editor and publisher). But, each time, Beverly had retreated back to Jackson in short order. Now, with a grand baby arriving, Beverly really wanted to be a part of this new phase of her life, if she could. She called Scott and learned that, yes, the baby was still pending… but it wouldn’t be long, for sure.

The baby, a girl, arrived early on Saturday morning, October 3. They named her Faith Gates. Mother and baby were able to have family visitors at the hospital, for a brief visit, late that afternoon. Along with Winnie and Beverly, Paul Gates was there, of course. Paul and Beverly now had a friendly, civil, relationship based on their mutual love of their children. He still didn’t understand her motivations, nor she his, but they had worked it out. Also there, whom they had met at the wedding, was Richard ‘Dick’ Nixon, Rachel’s widowed, and still single, father. The grandparents took turns going in to see the baby and her mother. The young father, Scott, was mostly happy to have a healthy wife and baby. He was pleased the grandparents were each there to visit, but really hoped they wouldn’t stay too long.

Baby Faith had two aunts, Penny Nixon and Heather Gates. Each decided to wait until Sunday afternoon to come for a visit. Penny was the older sister of Rachel, and was Associate Editor to her father at the Oak Springs Enterprise. Penny had never married, and assumed she would not have children, so she felt a special relationship to her new little niece. Heather was now in her Senior Year of High School. Her feelings toward the baby were very similar to those that Penny was feeling.

Winnie and Beverly returned to Jackson a couple of days after Scott and Rachel took baby Faith home.

"May everyone have a homeplace, if only in your mind."

Dr. Bill  ;-)