Releasing Butterflies

Robert sat in the waiting room with the other fathers anticipating the arrival of their babies. The television was broadcasting a football game but the fathers were paying little attention. Robert for one was thinking of his family and how long he had waited for this day. It would be a great day in the lives of the Churches and the Dardens. His maternal family, the Churches had lived in Roedale since the early 1800s. In fact they had owned a 400 acre cotton plantation with numerous slaves to run the production. The land had passed from generation to generation for years and no one wanted to see it go out of the family. Having children to pass on his inheritance was important to him. His parents had already given his older brother's children their land and they were building new houses with large barns for storing their produce. Of course his baby brother still lived at home. The farming had long passed on to his brother's children and been replaced by a carpentry career for his father who helped build many churches in downtown Past, North Carolina. His brothers had followed his dad's lead and become carpenters as well but Robert wanted something different and the power company offered opportunity. But then again his father was not a local , the Dardens had migrated from England. His father still liked telling the story of traveling by ship to America where his parents promised they would become rich. His twin sisters Tulip and Daffodil had enjoyed flirting with the sailors but he had spent his time watching the ocean waters and the sea life. He told of how they arrived at the port with tickets in hand that they had purchased by selling all their belongings accept the few clothes they were allowed to take in their one suitcase each and of course the family camera equipment and then how the lines they had to wait in were so long. Each one of his three brothers and two sisters and his parents were questioned and examined and then questioned again. He was allowed to stay with his mother since he was still a toddler. But when it came time for vaccinations he had to participate like everyone else and remembered the sting of the shot and the tears that followed. He recalled going below to steerage where they were practically imprisoned during the long voyage.