Walking a Mile in His Shoes

Kayanna dennis

Professor Zuccarini

24 October 2017

History 153
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A long time ago there lived a rather strange and quiet old man. Every afternoon, an

elderly man walks three blocks to sit in front of a rickety old house that was abandoned years

ago. One day, while sitting in front of the house, the elderly man passed quietly. At his

memorial, his only child stood and spoke the legacy of her beloved father. In the story, there was

a clear understanding about the wore down house and why he sat there every day at noon.

In the year 1889, a man by the name of Jack Dickerson was born. He was the son of a

very powerful politician and a stay at home mom. He was the eldest of 8 children and lived in a

very expensive farm house. The house sat on 15,000 acres of land. At the age of 19, Jack had to

become the man of the house due to the assassination of his father. By the age of 23, his brothers

and sisters had to look to him for guidance because they had lost their mom from polio. When

the first world war started, Jack left the family behind to fight for a country that his parents

believed in.

At the end of the war, Jack came back home to the family farm where all except three

siblings left. Due to the government needing land, most of the Dickerson land was taken to feed

soldiers. Also, Jack was unemployed for a while after he returned so he applied to the Civil

Works Administration, CWA, and provided for the household. Jack and his siblings still had

enough money to buy more land if they wanted, but then the great depression began. The siblings

that left had to come back home slowly but surely. Food sources were scarce and there was

barely any money coming in from farming. Then, dust storms started to form and happen

frequently. During this time, Jacks sister Clara developed syphilis. They could not afford health

care, so she eventually passed.

After a while, the time came to elect a new president. As history would have it, Franklin

Roosevelt became president and things slowly started to change. Jack and his family started to
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receive money from the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to farm only basic products that

were needed. After the AAA was declared unconstitutional, the Soil Conservation and Domestic

Allotment Act began to help the family. As well as one of Jacks younger brothers who got

involved in the Civil Works Administration. The family slowly rebuilt their farm and lives with

the help of the government.

Then one night, Jack decided to take a stroll down the road when he came upon a sturdy

white house. On the porch was the prettiest woman Jack had ever seen. He was too shy to speak

to her, so every night he would take a stroll. Eventually, they began to have causal greetings

which turned to causal conversations. He found out that her name was Sarah Bell and she had

moved back into her parents house after they passed. She found Jack as attractive as he found

her. Yet she was also too shy to mention anything. Finally, she asked him to come in and look at

one of the kitchen pipes. Nothing was wrong with it, but Jack did not know that. So, while he

was trying to fix it, he broke the pipe and water began to spray everywhere. Jack sheepishly

apologized and helped clean up the mess. Afterwards they laughed about it and talked the rest of

the night.

Soon Jack and Sarah got married in Sarahs yard. After a while he moved into the house

with her and they started a family. Together they had twin boys and a set of triplets which were

two boys and a girl. After two years, Sarah fell ill. After a week of tests, she was diagnosed with

Cancer and she lived with it for seven years. Then one day, the cancer disappeared, and she was

cancer free. She lived to see her twin boys and one of the triplets get married and have kids.

After her fifth year of being cancer free she died of natural causes. After her death, Jack

suddenly fell ill. Yet, nobody knew what was causing the sickness. His only daughter moved

Jack into her home and cared for him.

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Jacks daughter, Karoline, only lived a few blocks over from Sarah Bell and Jacks old

home. So, Jack started his tradition of walking to the old home and walking through it. After a

brief period, the house became condemned and he was no longer able to walk into the house. So,

when he walked to the house he would sit on the porch and reminisce. The day he died, he kissed

Karoline on the forehead. She found that strange because he had never done that before. When

they found him sitting on the porch of the rickety house, they found a note in his hand. The note

read: Dearest Karoline, I walked every day to see your mothers glowing smile. After her death,

I walked every day to once again feel her presence and on this day, I walked to once again join

my beloved Sarah. We walk every day, it may not be a mile. It may not be a yard. Yet, we still

walk. This day, I want you to begin to walk.

She stood in front of the house with the note and looked one last time ad they took her

father away. She then began to just walk and ponder on what was said in the note. She walked

almost a mile when she suddenly bumped into a tall handsome man who was painting his fence.

After apologizing, she thought of the note and began to smile. Just like her father who walked

just to see her mother. She began to walk just to see her future husband.