Albert was in for a surprise when, waiting at home was not just a home-cooked meal but a graduation party his parents had thrown in his honor. In addition to his family- including Carrie, home for the summer -there were a few familiar faces from his boyhood home of Walnut Grove. Surprise and joy rose upon seeing Andrew Garvey, Willie and Rachel Oleson, and even Dr. Hiram Baker, among others. Adam and Mary Kendall were greeted with surprise and delight. The only ones missing, of course, were Laura and her family. But there was a heartfelt letter from them congratulating Albert on graduating at the top of his class and expressing regret at not being there.
The chilled supper of fried chicken, something called potato salad, peas, apple pie, and even ice cream was, of course, delicious. Grace had made the pie and blushed when the adults told her how good it was. For hours everyone ate, laughed, and spoke of old times.
The party was concluded by Albert showing off his diploma and Charles and Caroline presenting their son with a graduation gift. Albert was shocked upon opening the wooden box and finding a gold pocket watch. His shoulders fell and he closed the box regretfully. "Ma...Pa, I'm sorry. I can't accept this."
His parents looked crestfallen. "Hey, what's the matter, son?" Charles wanted to know.
"It must have cost a fortune," he whispered.
"Nonsense," said Charles with a frown. "Don't you worry about that. Everyone chipped in."
Everyone? Albert looked around the room at the smiling faces of his family and friends and felt a lump rise in his throat. "Why'd you go and do that?"
"We wanted to," put in Andrew, as if the answer was obvious.
"A doctor needs a watch...especially if he's going to be on time for his appointments," Dr. Baker pointed out. His hair was all but gone and he had retired the previous year, but other than that had changed little.
"Yes, but-"
"No buts. You've earned it, Dr. Ingalls."
Albert opened the box again and stared in wonder at the watch before meeting the eyes of everyone in the room. His own eyes were misty. "Thank you...everyone...dad-burn it." He wiped his eyes, only a little aggravated. Even as an adult, he had the leakiest eyes that side of the Mississippi.
Carrie grinned. "Well, let's see how it looks."
Albert nodded and carefully pulled out the watch. He stuck the hasp through one of his vest buttonholes, then slid the watch into the watch pocket.
The room applauded with approval over the choice, making Albert blush. "And now Adam is going to have to teach me to wind it," he said ruefully, glancing at his brother-in-law. He'd never owned or even handled a watch in his life, having been taught by Charles to tell time by the sun and stars. This comment was greeted with good-natured laughter. Albert pulled the watch from his pocket and turned to Mary, who was smiling but looked a little left out. "Here. Mary, do you want to see it?" He carefully put the watch into her hands.
Mary's smile grew and her sightless blue eyes shone as she ran her sensitive fingers over the watch. "Oh, it's beautiful." She held it up to her ear to listen to it tick before handing it back to Albert. "It must make you look quite distinguished."
Adam nodded. "He looks sharp. So Albert, where are you going to be practicing?"
Albert hunched his shoulders a bit and shrugged. "I haven't made up my mind yet...but I'm thinking somewhere out West. There's a lot of growing towns out there that need a doctor."
"How far West?" Adam wanted to know. "Uh, Colorado? California? China?"
Everyone chuckled while Mary playfully jabbed him with her elbow.
"I don't think that far West," laughed Albert. "I don't speak Chinese. I could barely pronounce some of those Latin terms at college."
"Don't laugh. You may learn a little Chinese out West," remarked Charles. "Plenty of them on the coast, working on the railroad."
"I don't mind. Chinese, Spanish, Russian...anything, as long as I don't have to speak French," the doctor cringed. Willie laughed knowingly.
Caroline looked concerned with all the talk of far-away travel. "How far were you planning on going, Albert?"
Albert shrugged. "Like I said, I haven't made up my mind yet." He could see the worry in his mothers' eyes and smiled kindly. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow, or even next week."
Caroline gave a strained smile. "Oh, I know. It's just that we've missed you so much, and the thought of you going away again...especially so far..."
"Well, I'm home now." Albert leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek.
Andrew grinned. "Sounds like you're ready. All you need now is a wife, and you'll be all set." He winked at Hannah Partridge, his fiancée, who groaned.
Adam straightened his spine. "Oh, right. Meet anyone special back East, Albert?"
The smile froze on Albert's face. Romance had been the last thing on his mind during college. His dark hair and roguish eyes had played havoc on the young females hanging around the medical school, but every time they made eyes at him, he had to politely decline, no matter how sweet or pretty they were. His excuse in the past had been to focus on his education. With as busy as he was, he didn't have time for courting. Now that excuse was gone. He found himself looking around the room. Both of his older sisters were married. Andy was engaged. Willie had been married for almost five years. Even Carrie had a beau. Nothing was official, but going from Ma and Pa's letters, this fellow had come to dinner once or twice and they were favorably impressed. The only adults in the room who were unattached were Dr. Baker and himself.
An unexpected sense of loneliness assaulted Albert. For a split second his heart ached. The only girl he had ever truly loved was long gone...he shook his head to clear it and coughed. "Well...there aren't really any prospects at this point...and I don't even want to think about courting until I've established my practice."
Charles nodded with approval and clapped Albert on the shoulder. "Good man. Don't go lookin' till you can put a roof over her head."
"A toast!" cried Andrew, lifting his glass. "To Dr. Ingalls."
Everyone else raised their glasses in salute as well. "To Dr. Ingalls!" The glasses clinked against each other.
Albert, meanwhile, was left blushing like a schoolboy from all the attention.
The newly-minted Dr. Ingalls enjoyed his time at home with his family, but within a week was plagued with a case of itchy feet. I'm an adult...a medical college graduate. I shouldn't be living at home anymore. He loved his family, of course...but it didn't feel right. So, young Dr. Ingalls marched down to the newspaper office to see about getting copies of the Des Moines Register, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Herald, and the New York Times. When towns out West were looking for a doctor, they usually put ads in the major newspapers back East, where all the medical graduates were.
A month later the papers were delivered and Charles and Caroline awakened to find their son studiously searching the 'Help Wanted' ads, pencil in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
"Goodness. Albert, how long have you been awake?" asked Caroline, squinting in the lamp light.
"About five," he answered easily, circling one ad and crossing out another.
"Five?" Charles shook his head in disbelief. It was nearly 6 am. "If you're going to be answerin' ads, the telegraph office doesn't open 'till eight-thirty."
"I wanted to pick which ads to answer before they opened," answered Albert. He sipped from the cup and made a face. His coffee didn't taste very good, but it sure woke him up. The potent caffeinated 'mud' had come in very handy during all-night crams for calculus, pharmacology, and anatomy exams.
"Well, sure. But can it really take you three hours to pick which ads to answer?" Charles wanted to know.
Albert gave a sheepish grin and a shrug. "You're the one who taught me to get up with the chickens."
Charles let out a tired chuckled and shoved his hands in his hip pockets. "That's right, I did. City life's makin' me soft. I oughta get back to the farm."
Caroline shot him a warning glance. "Charles...you said this was the last move. You promised."
The man sighed and nodded. "I know, I know. I'll keep it for you." He gave her a brief kiss before turning back to his son. "Anything promising yet?"
Albert picked up a little nickel notepad to check his list. "Let's see...two in Colorado, one in Dakota Territory, one in Reno, and about ten from California. And...counting," he added ruefully, indicating the two papers he still had to go through.
Caroline shuffled over in her slippers to peer at the papers. "Do they mention what sort of pay you could expect?"
Albert cringed. "None of them have so far."
Charles shrugged. "Well, son, with most country doctors, that's how it is. People pay what they can. Remember Doc Baker? He bartered half the time. You don't usually get a regular paycheck unless you work for a hospital."
"Oh, I'm not complaining," amended Albert quickly. "It doesn't make for a very easy decision, though."
"Well...good luck, son." Charles gave Albert a light slap on the shoulder and yawned. "Think I'll have some of that coffee." He went over to the stove and poured himself a cup.
"Careful. It's kind of-"
Charles took one sip and nearly choked.
"Strong."
"Strong? Son, you could stick a spoon in that stuff and it would stand straight up." Charles shook his head and dumped the 'mud' down the sink.
Albert hid his smile at his fathers' expression and went back to the newspapers.
After three full hours of searching ads, Albert had narrowed his choices down to five; one in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one in Reno, Nevada, and three in California; San Francisco, Sacramento, and a little place called Haywards. With all that remained of his college fund, he marched down to the telegraph office to answer the ads. In each telegram he told them his name, education, and gave his only two references; Dr Baker and one of his professors from college. His fervent hope was that he found a job before he spent the money needed for his train or stagecoach fare on telegrams.
It was a full week before he heard back; the positions in Colorado Springs and Reno had been filled, and the positions in San Francisco and Sacramento only wanted someone with experience. That left only the Haywards position. After a few days of thinking it over, Albert replied that he would be happy to be the town doctor and began packing his bags.
"Haywards?" frowned Charles when he heard the news. "Never heard of it."
"It's across the bay from San Francisco," explained Albert. "There's only about 1500 people."
"Only? Seems like an awful lot of people for one doctor."
"It's small compared to New York. Besides, not all of them would need me at once," Albert grinned.
"It's so far away," sighed Caroline, sinking into a chair at the kitchen table. Her eyes misted thinking how far apart her family was going to be.
Albert's grin dissolved. "I know, Ma. But they need a doctor, and they don't mind that I'm fresh out of college. Most places do. If I'm gonna find a job, I need to take what I can get."
Caroline nodded, trying to smile. "I know that. I just...don't like the idea of my children spread all over Creation. Mary in New York...Laura in Dakota Territory...and now you in California."
Albert put down his pencil to wrap his arms around his mother. "I'll write. I always do. And I'll always come out to see you for Christmas...maybe even Easter. But Ma," he sighed, pulling back, "I want to do this...I feel like this is what God wants me to do...go to a new place and help people. Moses went into the wilderness. California's not exactly the biggest place in the world, but it's not a wilderness. I'll be fine."
A smile finally crossed Caroline's face and she nodded, though that smile was joined with tears. She sniffled and found a handkerchief to dab at her eyes. "When will you be leaving?"
Albert shrugged and sank back down. "End of the week." He offered another smile to his mother. "Don't cry. I'm not gone yet."
Caroline could only nod and continue to dab her eyes. "I know. It's just...I'm so proud of you."
