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The Farmers Club was a place where the local men gathered after a long day in the fields and before they went home to dinner. John Duffy took me there shortly after we met and I have been going every day since. It’s a rich atmosphere filled with working men’s attitudes. A place where men solve everyday problems over cheap beer and cigarettes.
The conversations always turn to times past when tobacco was king of the fields here and before law suits ruined the tobacco economy of this area. Corn, soy beans and cotton make up the bulk of the areas crops but with incomes down I have noticed some farmers are not coming in to the club as often. Times and income have changed since the cash cow of tobacco has disappeared.
Today’s thoughts turned quickly to the war in Afghanistan as 4 Ferry Road boys are serving in the military. Families are close knit and any news from these deployed kids is a hot topic. Most of the Ferry Road men have served. Military service is like a right of passage here and these men defend their service fiercely.
I was in the club the day the news came in about the Pauley boy being killed. I saw grown men tear up as a loss like this is felt all along the road. I walked home with John Duffy that night and arrived to the Duffy women cooking for the Pauley family. Alice crying while she prepared food. Crying for Alan Pauley and for her Alex who was still deployed.
When death comes to a rural community every person is affected. The passing of the elderly is expected and received almost welcomingly . Especially for those who were suffering. But the loss of any young person is met with massive grief. Not just by the family involved but by all of Ferry Road. This close knit community feels each others pain and shows it openly.
Alan Pauley was buried in the family burial plot at the edge of the Pauley
The silence was deafening at the club. Barely a word was spoken. These strong men had looks of despair on their faces. Looks that I had never seen before. John and I walked home in silence. I watched him wipe tears from his eyes before he entered his home.
On Monday morning Peter and Charles Pauley, ages 18 and 20, enlisted in the army. Life went on as usual on Ferry Road but the sense of loss lingered for some time.
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Randy
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