The Road Not Taken: Another Path

Chapter 5

12/25/1971

Christmas Morning. Sam loved this day for as long as he could remember. It was a huge feast for all his senses. He enjoyed the bright lights and the pretty presents under the tree. The smell of the pine tree, which his mother decorated with the family ornaments, some passed down through the families, and some which the Beckett children had made themselves through the years. The feel of the velvet table runner on the dining room table. The taste of the special foods his mother would make for the holidays, especially her cookies. And the sounds of the Christmas music, whether it involved hearing the church choir, singing carols, or playing the records throughout the season.

Indeed, the first time anyone knew that Sam had musical ability was during his second Christmas. They'd been at the church and while John was getting the family's coats, Sam had toddled over to the piano that sat next to the choir loft. He'd pulled himself up to the seat and had started picking out the tune for one of his favorite Christmas songs, Joy to the World. His little hands would not allow him to play more than the simple melody but he didn't miss a note.

Thelma had sat down beside him and asked if he knew any other songs. Sam played "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Angels We Have Heard on High." The following spring, the family had purchased a piano and Sam was encouraged to play. He started formal lessons when he was four. His talent had certainly come quite far since then. He absolutely loved music. The beauty of how the harmonies blended was truly inspiring.

It was still dark out but Sam leaped out of bed. Even if it was Christmas morning, the chores still needed to be done. And since he was home, he wanted to give his dad a bit of a break. He put on his clothes and headed out to the barn to take care of milking the cows, feeding the chickens, and slopping the hogs.

After finishing his work, he headed back into the house to get cleaned up before breakfast. Coming down the stairs after his shower, his father greeted him. "Good morning, Sam. What time did you get up? Looks like you finished all the morning chores on your own."

Sam grinned. "Morning, Dad. Yeah, I figured I'd give you a nice early Christmas present."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

They walked into the kitchen where Thelma was putting some freshly baked cinnamon rolls out on the table. "You two want coffee?"

"That would be great, Mom. Where's Katie?"

"She'll be down in just a moment." Thelma handed the two mugs to Sam and his father. Sam took a sip and sighed. "What's that all about, Sam?"

"Oh…they just don't make coffee like yours at Purdue."

A few minutes later, Katie appeared, and the family headed into the living room for the Christmas morning ritual of opening presents.

Sam randomly pulled a box out from the pile. "The tag says that this one is for Dad from Katie." He handed it over to his father.

John put his coffee on the end table beside him. "I wonder what this could be?" He unwrapped the gift, finding inside a new John Deere hat. "Thank you, Katie. This will be nice. My old one is getting a bit raggedy." Katie beamed.

John pulled the next gift from the pile. "Ok, this one is to Katie from Sam." He handed it to Katie who tore into the box ravenously. She pulled a sweatshirt with the Purdue logo from the box. "Oh, Sam. Thanks. I can wear it to one of your upcoming games."

Sam thought about the basketball season, which had started in November with a bang. His coach was quite happy with the way the freshman from Elk Ridge was coming along. While he had played forward in high school, the coach wanted him playing point guard. It was a switch for Sam, but he'd taken to the position with ease, assisting his team to get an average of 25 points per game.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

The morning progressed with the various members of the family opening presents. Sam had given his mother a new scarf and Katie had given her a pin. John's gift to his wife was a lovely lace and silk blouse in emerald green. Thelma had given John a new dress shirt and a tie to wear on Sundays. Sam had given his Dad a new pocket knife.

Katie had received a dress and the new "Wildlife" album from Paul McCartney's new band "Wings" from her parents. Sam had received new guitar strings from his sister, a nice button down navy blue shirt from his mother, and a watch from his father. There were a few more gifts from "Santa" although not as many as in years past.

After the presents were opened, the family headed back to the kitchen for a late morning brunch. The sweet rolls had been wonderful but nothing could compete with his mother's breakfast casserole. It was a layered creation constructed with toast, eggs, cheese, and bacon.

After brunch, Katie announced that she was heading over to Elaine's to see what she'd gotten for Christmas. Reminded to be back for dinner by 5:30 p.m., Katie headed out the door. John Beckett decided to head out to his workshop where he was "building something." Sam stayed behind. "Mom, I gave Dad a gift of chores and I want to do the same for you. What do you need done?"

Thelma smiled at Sam. "Why don't you keep me company in the kitchen? I have some potatoes that need peeling."

"Okay." They spent the next couple of hours in the kitchen, Sam peeling or cutting whatever his mother needed for the preparation of the dinner. While they were working, they talked.

"So, how is school going, son?"

"Fine, Mom. I like my classes and Pete is really a great guy. He's really taken to Judo. Nice to have a sparring partner." Sam finished peeling the carrots and started on the potatoes.

Thelma looked over to her son, smiling. "I'm glad you've found a friend there, Sam. I know you were a bit worried about going off to college."

"Yeah. Meeting Pete has been great. The way he talks about his sisters makes me think of Katie. Makes me realize how nice it is to have her around. Before I went off to school, it always seemed that Katie could be so annoying. Now that I'm gone, I realize miss her."

"I understand, Sam. You and Katie are growing up. Uncle Billy felt the same way about me after he left home." Thelma smiled for a moment, thinking about her older brother. Then her forehead wrinkled and her face tightened. "Your sister worries me a bit sometimes. Tom was so responsible and you were rather shy. You two just didn't give a body much to worry about. Katie, though..." Thelma sighed. "Well, Katie just doesn't put the same emphasis into school that you two did. She's more interested in clothes, boys, and music. Sometimes, I'm concerned about the direction she's going."

"Oh, Mom. Katie's okay." Sam looked up at his mother. "Pete says his little sisters are the same way and there's two of them. Katie'll be alright."

"I know Sam. It's just…hmmm" Thelma decided to change the subject. "So, tell me about your classes."

"Agriculture is really a pretty interesting field, and all my professors are really good. I never realized how many new innovations were available to farmers."

"Yes, well that's all well and good, Sam. But the problem is farms aren't pulling in nearly enough to pay for new equipment. Quite a few people are having problems keeping their farms."

"Yeah, I read in the paper about the Walters boys holding up the bank this week. What could have driven them to that extreme?"

"Sam," Thelma turned to look at him, concern in her eyes, "they were about to lose their farm. Things aren't easy right now. We'd better have a good year or we may be facing some tough decisions ourselves."

Sam looked at his mother aghast. He knew that things had been tight but possibly losing the farm? "Surely it can't be that bad, Mom."

"Yes, Sam. It's that bad. I know your father is extremely worried. He's working sixteen hours a day just to keep things going."

"I guess I should drop out of school then."

"You'll do no such thing, Sam."

"But Mom, if the farm isn't here, I don't have anything to come back to."

"The Lord will provide, son. We just have to keep our faith."

"Mom, I think the Lord helps those who help themselves, too." Sam's head tilted and he got a far away look in his eyes. "Maybe we can set up a cooperative? There's this new organic movement spreading. They promote eating locally grown produce. They've got this catchy slogan 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.' Maybe we can set up a farmer's market in Terre Haute."

Thelma consdered this suggestion. "That might be an idea your Dad would want to hear. Why don't you go out to the workshop and let him know about it."

"You sure you don't need me here anymore?"

"No, Sam. You've saved me a lot of work by doing all the peeling and cutting. I can manage the rest of it easily." Thelma walked over to Sam and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime." Sam got up and washed up the knife and cutting board. "Okay, Mom. Let me go talk with Dad." Sam walked over and gave his mother a hug and then headed out to the workshop.

Peeking his head into his father's workshop, Sam asked, "Dad? Can I speak with you a minute?"

"Sure, Sam. If you want, I can stop working out here and we can play some table tennis."

Sam smiled. Whenever there was a problem, his dad would suggest a game of ping-pong. Sam figured that it helped give them both something else to "focus" on so that they could talk about things that might be hard to say otherwise. They'd settled many an issue while batting around that little white ball. "No, Dad. I think I'd just like to help you out in here. What are you building?"

"Oh, your mother's always wanted a cedar lined wardrobe to store the winter clothes in. I decided that I could build it and give it to her for her birthday."

Sam picked up one of the maple boards. He knew that was one of his mother's favorite woods. "This wood is beautiful, Dad. What would you like me to do?"

"Well, I'm going to need to have these boards all cut to the same length. If you use this one as a measure, then I can get started with some of the scroll work."

"Okay." Sam started to measure a board against the one his father had handed him.

"Remember," his father said, "measure twice, cut once."

Sam grinned. "Yeah. I will."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Sam explained his idea to his father about organic farming and the farmers market. "I don't know about that, Sam. You think the people in Terre Haute are really gonna pay more for produce and milk that been raised that way? It won't even look as good." John's body language told Sam that he was extremely skeptical about changing his farming habits.

"Yeah, Dad, I do. There's a whole movement going on. People really are getting into this 'no lab created pesticides.' And if you are organic in producing the milk, you'll get more for that too."

John thought about that. He realized that if something didn't change and soon, he'd have heck of a time keeping the farm. This was at least worth looking into. "Well, how would we go about doing this thing? Assuming we decided to try it."

"I've got a three week break from school. How about I set up a meeting at the church to pitch the idea to the community, the ones who will come anyway."

John patted Sam on the back. "Thanks, Son. Maybe this agriculture degree is a good idea after all."

Sam stayed the rest of the day until supper time working with his Dad in the workshop as they worked on the wardrobe. John had shown him the plans and Sam stated that it would really please his mother. They didn't talk much more, other than discussing the basketball season. Sam was simply enjoying his father's company. Time seemed to fly and it seemed all too soon when Thelma told them to get ready for dinner.

Holidays at the Becketts always included dressing in nice clothes for dinner. Sam took his shower and got dressed in his suit. He continued thinking about the conversations he'd had with his parents and vowed to do everything in his power to keep the farm. It worried him that if the farm was lost, that foregoing MIT would have been a poor choice. Somehow, he needed to make it all work.

As he walked into the dining room, Sam's eyes softened. As always, his mother had taken out the good china and silver. The white linen table cloth that had been passed down through her family for three generations covered the wooden table that his grandfather had built. This home meant everything to Sam. He wouldn't let it slip away.