A New Move

It seemed that summer was just full of surprises. First my trip to the peach farm, then the explosion and then my risque venture into a minor attempt at exhibition. But nothing compared with the news that awaited all of us as July came to an end. One evening at dinner, the matron announced that the campus was moving. The whole campus! For some time the sponsors of the home had been building a brand new campus about 40 miles south of Atlanta and we were due to move around the first week in August. After that, all we could do was scramble around and get our things together. Within no time, it seemed that our whole world was turned upside down. It only took a few days, but with lots of organization and work, each cottage was emptied and we moved to a lovely new campus in the country. What a difference! The whole compound was located in the middle of acres and acres of farmland with cows, horses and crops surrounding the land the campus was built on. Close by, there was a small town named Palmetto, and it only had a few stores. I thought that Hapeville was small, but it was a bustling town compared to this one. The girl's campus was built in a cul de sac two miles from the boys campus. In the middle of the campus was a pool, a huge gymnasium, the main offices and several buildings that housed campus officials, including a social worker. We even had a church building right on campus! The new cottages were two storied, with sleeping rooms and the visiting room on the top floor. Really, this was the main floor, as the cottages were built on hillsides and the basement only appeared from behind the cottage. On the bottom floor was the kitchen, laundry, game room and the matron's rooms. Upstairs, or on the mail floor, were our rooms where we shared four girls to a room and a bath with the other room next to us. We had air conditioning! And color TV. It was the first time in my life I had had either air conditioning or color tv. The kitchen was a stainless steel wonder and there was a drain in the floor so that all we had to do was scrub the floor and rinse it with a hose. No more back breaking mopping, rinsing and changing the water several times. The refrigerator was huge, and held much more than the other one. We also had a large freezer, and food could be delivered once a week instead of everyday. Everything smelled new and wonderful. How I loved the game room. It had sofas lining the wall with fat cushions that we sat on when we wanted to watch tv on the floor. Instead of the vinyl floor of the old home, these cottages were carpeted. There were bright lamps that gave a welcome when you walked into a room. Everything was new and exciting, but many changes had been made. The first thing I realized was that I had left the birds back at the other campus. Since this new campus was out in the country, there were so many birds that it was hard to distinguish the ones close by. And, since we had air conditioning, I couldn't leave the window open to hear them. There would be no more walks into the lovely town of Hapeville. No more opportunity to peer into the jewlery store window display on my way to school, nor to walk through the pharmacy. No more soda fountain treats, no more time at the feed store. No, we were out in the country, with lovely acres surrounding us, but nothing that was familiar. Everything was modern and new, but nothing was comforting. It would take time. We still attended the high school in Hapeville, as there was no high school close by. We would walk the mile to the entrance of the campus and ride 40 miles into Hapeville each way. We walked that mile each way rain or shine, hot or cold. Since Mindy and I walked together, it didn't seem so long. All along the route to Hapeville each day, we counted many cows and passed farmhouses. Since we had to ride so far, we usually didn't get home until it began to be dark. It was all so different. We had only been on the new campus for two weeks and not yet started back to school, when it was time to celebrate the annual homecoming picnic. People came from all over who had been residents or workers in the years past. The home sponsored a huge picnic, with an abundance of food, and a tour of the new campus. I couldn't believe that some of those old people that visited had been kids at one time in the home. The day was a hot Sunday in August, and after attending a capacity filled airconditioned Sunday service, we all filed out to begin the picnic. Each of the older kids had been assigned as campus tour guides. We were not allowed to change from our Sunday clothes, and as hot as it was, I was pretty miserable. I wore the girdle and stockings and dress blouse and skirt. My bra pinched as well and I could feel sweat trickling down my spine as I smiled answered questions to those I had been assigned to give a tour. I was hungry as well, and looked forward to tucking into the picnic treats that loaded the tables inside the new gym. Finally I found time to get a plate of food and sit down. I was especially glad to sit at last as my back and stomach had been cramping and that just added to the difficulty that I was having. I was a real trooper at smiling in spite of feeling bad, and that day was no different. Smiling and laughing, greeting visitors and calling to friends, the afternoon wore on. Finally, I had to go to the bathroom, and giving an excuse, I slipped into one of the girls rooms at the gymnasium. The bathroom stalls were roomy and new. I remember thinking that it was really nice to have such nice bathrooms, and once in a stall, I went to work peeling off the girdle and my panties so that I could relieve myself. The reason that I so clearly remember something so mundane as a trip to the girls room is because on that day, at that time, once I was seated, I received the shock of my life. Mother nature had finally come to visit. There, right before my eyes, was the proof that I was finally a woman! Secretly, I had worried that something was terribly wrong with me because I had turned fourteen and not started my cycles. I couldn't talk to anyone, not even Mindy. I was so afraid that I was different from the other girls, and just kept it to myself. But no, at last, I was just like everyone else. I wanted to shout it to anyone who would listen, but that would not have been the thing to do, and then I realized that since I never told anyone that I had not had cycles, I could not tell them now that I did. Now would have been a good time to have a mother to turn to. I was pretty naive, and did not figure out that since I had never asked for sanitary products, the matron and Mrs. Thompson knew I had not needed them. This was getting more and more difficult. Well, I decided to just go and tell Mrs. Thompson everything and be done with it. She was so sweet, and gave me the needed supplies. I was so happy, I felt so special. I was a woman at last! A woman with female trouble from the start. I would soon find that being a woman was no fun, and in my case, just plain miserable. Along with miserable cramps, I got crabby. I cried for no reason, and got a small case of acne. What the heck? Where was the wonder of womanhood? Not with me, that's for sure. And the bad thing was, it happened each month! I think I recall that the school nurse told us in the "special meeting for girls" that we would be only slightly inconvienced each month. She lied. I was beginning to see that the future could hold some challenges! It was shortly after moving to the new campus that something else wonderful happened. I began to correspond with my father. I had written to my grandmother who is his mother and she gave me his address. He was still in prison, but I could write to him and he wrote back. We began to get to know each other again. I tried to forget my fears of him, and learn to know the man that was in my life at that time. What I didn't know was that he would soon be released. He had a new life ahead of him, and for a while, that life did not include me. It was not that he didn't want me, he just had to start over. We wrote and I looked for his letters. I wished that he was free to come and get me. Someday, I knew he would drive up to the cottage and be with me on visiting day. It seems that young, teenaged girls can have quite an imagination. These things did happen for me but not for a very long time. Meanwhile, my naturally positive spirit took over and I did my best to enjoy each day of my life. The move to the new campus brought change and new experience. Many of those experiences would prove to be such that would mold me into the person I would become.