She was a force of nature. She had a plan, a vision from as early as she could remember. She saw herself with her home and family years into the future. Three kid and a dog. Sunday school and Saturdays at the park. Baseball leagues for the boys and 4H raising chickens for the girls. She would be a stay at home mom and return to work when all the kids were in school. It was her vision and it would all happen in Eden. The town where she grew up. Where her parents and grandparents lived. Maybe even in Nana’s house. A stone house built in the 1920’s with hard wood floors, a grand stone fireplace and bay windows looking out over the hay fields that surrounded the town.
It had all come true just as she had seen it. She met Ted in high school. They both attended a local community college and found they had classes together. Traveling in the same circle of friends, it wasn’t long before he caught her eye. She decided that he was the one and Ted never knew what hit him. Once she made up her mind, she would not be denied. She smiled her smile, laughed at his jokes, made it a point to be around when he was around. She asked him for help studying even though she was a better student than he was. She listened intently as he explained the course work and before he knew it, they were an item.
It was a April wedding in the church where she was baptized, with a reception following at the Fellowship Hall. The same church her where her parents had wed. Where she took her first communion. Her roots were deep in Eden and she was going to build her life here. Babies came as the years rolled by. It was all going as planned. At first she was concerned when Ted went into law enforcement. She worried that he would get hurt, that he would harden with the demands of the job. Ted surprised her as Eden became his extended family. He was more like Andy Griffith than Clint Eastwood.
Her roll as the sheriff’s wife came with burdens and responsibilities. She was active in the community and anytime someone’s son would run afoul of the law, their mother would come to her with plea of leniency. “My boy is a good boy. It didn’t really mean any harm.” Were the standard approaches. She had learn that her roll was to reassure the mother. Everything would be okay. Rarely if ever was jail time ever an issue. The worst case was probation and community service. She was understanding and supportive. She empathized with their heartache. She calmed their fears and explained the process. She could have been a family counselor.
Terry's passing shook Mary to her core. “It is the end of the world as we know it.” Mary murmured, mostly to herself—but loud enough for Ted to hear.
“What do you mean?” Ted asked
“Thing will never be the same.” She said softly.
“What things? Ted pressed.
“Everything.” Mary’s voice was firm, yet weary.
“Who will keep the history of this place. Some developer will buy the Neilson house, divide up the land, and sell hobby farm to rich people in Atlanta and Charlotte. That house has stood for over a century. Terry’s great-grandfather built it with his own hands. Generations grew up there—babies took their first breaths, old folks drew their last. And now? Some developer will tear it down or gut it, wiping away every memory, every story, as if they never existed.”
“You can’t stop progress.” Ted said, but even as the words left his mouth, they felt hollow.
“That’s not progress. It’s erasure. Our culture matters. Our values deserve protection.” I understand people want to make money. But can they recreate the years of history that this valley has witnessed?
Once we start down that road, we can never get it back.
“ In no time at all, the old residents will be outnumbered by the new. They will control the direction the county takes. They will decide whether the mountains are carved up with roads and houses built all along the ridges. They will decide what kind of stores move here, what kind of restaurants open in the area. “
Ted shifted back and forth as he listened. He knew she was right.
“What can we do?” He asked. “The children of the long time residents move away when they are old enough. The old way of life is dying from attrition and there in nothing to be done about it.”
“Should we just let that go, just so some rich people can have a second home.” Mary’s face was long and her lips were thin and quivering. She avoided looking in Ted’s eyes and focused off in the distance. She was seeing the future and it broke her heart. The home she had live in and loved all her life was dying and there was no stopping it.
Ted searched for something—anything—to give Mary hope. A promise. A reassurance. But there were no words. Only silence. They sat in silence, holding each other. Mary turned and rested her head Ted’s shoulder as he pulled her closer, meeting her embrace, cradling her in his arms. Ted held her close, but he knew—there was no shelter from the storm ahead. No way to stop the tears or the loss waiting just over the horizon.