Sunday, May 02, 2010

Remembering Charlie

The photo to the left is of the Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Line. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the old Atlantic Coastline that I refer to in this post. The track mention was removed in the late 1970s.

"We’ve lost a good friend, Sage,” Terry said after we’d exchanged greetings. I’d forgotten my cousin knew Charlie. Charlie’s wife had inherited a track of land and my cousin had harvested longleaf pine straw off of it. Terry told me about the old homestead near Cowpen Landing on the Northeast Cape Fear. Although I’d heard about the place, I’d never been there. My cousin told me the old house had fallen in, but the chimney was still standing and Charlie had pointed out to him an indention in the brick where his mother-in-law would stop and sharpen the blade of her butcher knife, running the metal along the brick, before walking out to the smokehouse to cut a slap of meat off for a meal.

I came to know Charlie during my time at the bakery. I hired on the summer I was nineteen, between my freshman and sophomore years of college. Charlie would have been almost sixty then and had spent most of life working for the bakery. You could always count on Charlie to lighten things up with a good joke and you knew that any joke he told would be clean. Charlie worked hard, but could laugh harder.

One afternoon, there wasn’t much to do in the plant as we’d run out of flour and the railcar, which was scheduled to be delivered that morning, had been delayed. We sat out near the loading dock where we could look down the tracks. Charlie came by and told us about growing up next to the railroad tracks, out north of the Green Swamp, east of Wilmington.

His daddy had been a section foreman for the Atlantic Coastline, maintaining the rails and water tower along a section of the mainline between Delco and Bolton. It may not look like much to those who speed by these days on Highway 74-76, but it’s a magical place. He land is as flat as a pancake and grows some of the most interesting plants on earth including the Venus flytrap. In some areas, there’s sand upon which grows stately longleaf pines and huge live oaks. In other areas, its swamp and you have cypress trees growing up out of the water, their sparse limbs dangled in Spanish moss. This is black-water country, water darkened by the tannic acid produced by the cypress. Often, in the evenings, fog will develop over the waters, making it all the more mysterious.

“Charlie,” I asked, “have you seen the light?”

Just down the tracks from where Charlie grew up was Maco Station. There, just a couple years after the Civil War, at a time the line was known as the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad, a brakeman named Joe Baldwin was riding in a caboose. His car became decoupled from the rest of the train and started to slow down. When Joe realized what was happening, he grabbed a lantern and ran out on the back deck of the car, swinging his lantern back and forth, a universal sign on the railroad for trains to stop. He knew there was another train following them and he hoped to signal the engineer in time. But in the foggy swampland, the engineer didn’t see the signal until it was too late and the engine collided into Joe’s car, destroying it. Joe was killed, his head severed from his body. As they cleaned up from the accident, they never found his head and Joe’s body was buried without it. Most just assumed the head had rolled down the embankment and into the black waters.

Shortly after Joe’s death, people started reporting a strange light in the swamps near the Maco sidings. Some suggested it was Joe’s lantern swinging along the tracks, moving through the swamps and a legend developed that Old Joe was still looking for his head. Charlie had seen the light, but he didn’t believe it to be Joe’s lantern. If I remember correctly, he brought into one popular theory that the lights were caused by swamp gas.

Living by the railroad tracks, hearing that lonesome cry from the engine pierce through the night as freight rolled toward the port in Wilmington must have been sealed in Charlie’s memory. But that lonesome wail can also bring sadness, as Charlie shared with us.

A year into the Great Depression, when Charlie was still just a boy, finishing up grade school in Acme, the lonesome wail wasn’t being heard as much. There was so little freight moving then that the railroad laid-off every other section foreman. Charlie’s dad lost his job. The next day, Charlie went with his dad into Wilmington to look for work. But there were none to be found. Coming back home, late in the day, discouraged, they noticed smoke over the distant pines. As they got closer, they realized their house was totally engulfed in flames. The family lost it all. Charlie’s life was forever changed. He went to live with family in Wilmington, where he worked hard and earned little until the war came and he joined the Navy.

You’d think that after such hardships, Charlie would have been bitter, but there wasn’t a bitter bone in his body. Charlie was one of the most joyous and positive individuals I’ve known. He seldom complained. Even when he had good reason to complain, he’d just shuck it off. He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. He was a good man. Thinking about him, I’m left to wonder why it is that some people can endure tragedy after tragedy and still be joyful about life and positive about the future. In Charlie’s case, I’m sure it had to do with his faith. He knew he was loved by God and he found joy in creation, in life, in laughter and in good friends.

My cousin met Charlie long after I had left the bakery. “Charlie thought a lot of you,” Terry said, “he was always asking about you.” “Well, I’ve been thinking a lot about Charlie lately, too.” He died this year, two weeks before Easter, at the age 91. Hearing of his death, it seemed as if a part of my past had died along with him. Charlie was the one person from my time at the bakery that I would occasionally see. After he retired, Charlie found a home in the church I grew in and whenever I visited my parents on a Sunday, Charlie and I would get together during the coffee hour after worship and talk about old times. I’m going to miss him.

Other stories about working in the bakery: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6

18 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this recollection of a wonderful spirit. My Nan was from that same era and had many of those same qualities CHarlie had. Only her jokes were sometimes a little naughty... Thanks for sharing, Sage Guy. xxx

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  2. I too always wonder how people can be so happy after all the troubles they have had. I remember an elderly lady being interviewed after Hurricane Katrina and she lost everything but she was so calm about it all and she just knew that God would make everything o.k. again. Amazing.

    Speaking of old bakery people, I'd love to know what Linda has been up to. ;-)

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  3. A lovely tribute. There is no better epitaph for anyone than the fond memories of friends.

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  4. Memories are always alive in our mind. From your description he appeared to be a wise man, educated in the university of life and a very decent person.

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  5. A well written story. I worked at a rest home in high school and college, and always had time for the old folks to tell their stories..No one can live a lifetime, and not have a few good ones..

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  6. People who have learned to value friends and family over material possessions seem to handle stress much better, I've noticed. Charlie seems like an amazing person. I'm sorry for your loss.

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  7. I don't think I'm as positive and pleasant as this "charlie." Sounds like a great guy.

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  8. Michaela, sometimes other guys in the bakery, especially the mechanics, would tell dirty jokes to Charlie to get him rilled up

    Murf, I haven't seen Linda since I left the bakery in 1981... She was a hot 30-something then. I don't like to think of this, for it makes me feel old, but she's probably on social security today.

    Randall, thanks.

    Leni, I like the phrase "University of Life" Lots of good people have their only degrees from that school

    Buffalo, it's always a pleasure to get to listen to stories

    Jen, its sad what we value these days (I suppose there have always been people who have valued the wrong things in life)

    Charles, I afraid I'm not that positive or pleasant myself

    Vince, thanks.

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  9. Sage, there is something about that Depression era generation that projects strength and determination. I feel that our society has lost much and could benefit from the wisdom of those like Charlie. He sounds like a wonderful man.

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  10. Beautiful memories, and the stories were great. We meet but a few such as Charlie. I could feel the depth of your connection while reading...

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  11. What a great story!
    I am also left to wonder how some people have the gift of joy. They endure and yet remain positive and happy.
    Beautiful post

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  12. Kontan, you're right about the determination that came out of the depression era

    Beau & Just Because, Thanks for the kind words

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  13. I'm sorry Sage but you must be comforted by how good his life became
    I agree with Kontan that the depression brought out determination and grit
    My family had nothing. So they knew nothing more. I do and....

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  14. Wisest among man is a rarified nature. To come across a person like Charlie is a boon for us.

    I wish I was there to listen to...'that lonesome cry from the engine...'. Thank you for sharing.

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  15. Losing people from that age group is hard. They've got so much to share with us, if only we'd stop and listen.

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  16. A well-told tale, Sage. I'm sorry about your friend, of course. Sounds like he lived a long life and enjoyed every day. Maybe after going through the Great Depression, the rest of it all seemed easy.

    I often think we've lost something since that generation. Lessons forgotten, or maybe that we just never had to learn.

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  17. thanks for sharing stories of Charlie.

    people who have endured grief make joy for survival.

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