Westward We Go by Irene

Westward We Go

In 1945 we had been living in the Choctaw house for about two years. Shortly after moving into the house, Daddy was sent to Portland, Oregon to work in the Kaiser shipyards building warships. Mother had coped with us alone on his allotment in Oklahoma. She had gone to Portland early in 1944 to visit Daddy. My brother, Mike, had been born in December 1944.

The war had finally ended and the soldiers were coming home. My father wrote and told Mother that he had decided that he was not coming back to Oklahoma. He had already found a job in Portland. She was to pack up the family and take the train to Portland. So, my mother with four kids ages 9, 8, 6 and 1 (two who were bed wetters) set out for the west.

We first took a local train from McAlester to Kansas City, Missouri. There we had an eight hour wait in the station for the “City of Portland, stream-liner that would take us the rest of the trip. We slept on the benches in the station and ate the food that Mother had packed in boxes for us.

When the time came to board the train, an announcement came over the loudspeaker saying that all civilian travelers were to wait until all military personnel and their families had boarded. As we waited, a young soldier came up to my mother and asked, “Ma’am, are you and your children catching the City of Portland?”

“Yes, we are,” she answered, “But we have to wait.”

“Why don’t you come with me,” he said. “I will tell them that you are my family and you can board with me.”

So, he helped us board and made sure that we were seated together for the trip. We celebrated Mike’s first birthday on the train.

We passed the wide open plains, fences going up and down the hills (some falling over), and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Since it was winter, we saw lots and lots of snow. The route took us through Green River, Wyoming, Pocatello, Idaho then along the Columbia River into Portland.

Daddy met us at the station and took us to our first apartment on North Benton Avenue in the back part of a large house. We had one large room the width of the house with a stove in one corner and, wonder of wonders, an inside bathroom with the first flush toilet we had ever had.

July 26, 2008

This is a vivid description of Irene's journey to Portland. She brought in dialogue, which adds a nice flavor to any story. I enjoyed reading the description of their journey from one end of the country to the other. I don't know about you, but I was traveling right with her family.

Copyright © 2008 by The Write Workshop. All rights reserved.