Worst Fear Realized

Worst Fear Realized

Like Jill in Baggage burdens. Joseph did everything he could to avoid reliving a childhood experience. In spite of his many efforts he fails.

Being an only child didn’t seem like a hardship to Joseph when his parents were alive.  A car accident claimed them while he was very young. Because of the loving care he received from his grandparents, Joseph adopted many of their values. That put him at odds with the four fun loving, me-first for everything uncles who lived with Joseph’s grandparents.

Mike, his grandparent’s oldest son, also found his four brother’s disrespectful behaviors untenable. As soon as he could he moved away and bought a farm in a close-knit, conservative religious community. When Joseph learned of his other uncle he started writing to him and later visiting him. Their shared values drew them together.

Joseph’s few visits meant so much to Mike that when Mike died of a heart issue, he left his farm to Joseph.  Joseph soon learned that Mike lead a lonely life. While Mike was part of the religious community, his only true friends were Thomas and Rebecca, neighbors. With Thomas’ help Joseph took to farming and was eventually accepted by the church community although relationships remained distant.

A wife and a family, a large family––for Joseph no only-one-child family–– could solve Joseph’s problem. The rural community shielded their daughters from this outsider’s roving eye. Until Joseph noticed Jill, a waitress in a Camrose Bakery, he feared an isolated life like Mike’s.

Why this city bred girl showed an interest in Joseph and his farm life he didn’t know. Like any lottery winner when Jill agreed to marry him, Joseph didn’t question his luck. Her warning that she had unresolved issues from her past didn’t counter his desire to build a family with her.

To preserve his blessing Joseph determined he’d do what ever it took to make Jill happy in his isolated home. He didn’t know how high cost would be. After more than twenty-five years of marriage he ended up in a worse position than Mike when Mike left home.

        When Joseph saw the essence of his identity being undermined, he chose a strategic withdrawal. Men in his rural community accused Joseph of having no backbone. He should be more assertive, tell Jill when she is being unreasonable. An authoritarian he wasn’t.

Do you no any one who is very assertive or very meek? What problem(s) does that cause?

Three characters in Baggage burdens. fall victim to a personal tragedy. A character’s flaw serves as a foundation for a downfall. How much more tragic can it be for a person who concludes all is lost? I don’t want to live any longer.  Partial truth leads Jill to completely give up. Her flaws and her circumstances are explored in the next blog.