Katherine

This post was going to chronicle my epic adventures in the park on my day off. Bushwhacking to discover some natural treasure or fending off bears single-handedly, something of that caliber. Instead it will chronicle my afternoon in the great indoors with my roommate Katherine.

Katherine shows up last week, taking a cab from the airport, with a tiny suitcase, no food, no bedding and no transportation. My other roommate, Erin and I offer her some blankets, food and a ride to town anytime, but she seems pretty content. I get back to the house this afternoon, craving my last pack of Easy Mac, only to discover that it is gone, I guess Katherine decided to eat that. I have to admit; I was annoyed. I have tons of granola bars or cereal, but the last pack of Easy Mac?! I was wondering if Erin and I were going to be providing for her for the thirty days that she was going to be here. It is one of those painful times when I said something with my mouth and then realized that my heart wasn't on board. I mean, I did offer.

But then I spend the afternoon sitting across the kitchen table and mostly listening. Katherine is older, has three kids and spent years and years going through college, one class at a time, to get her degree in biology. Talking to her is like listening to a Southern Baptist preacher tell a story. She will crack you up but make you feel like standing up and shouting an 'Amen!' at the end.

Her husband does not support her in her endeavors in education or in coming to Shenandoah. I'm sure the lack of financial support hurts, but even more so is the lack of emotional support. She doesn't speak of any of this with bitterness or self-pity but says 'it is the way it is'. It sounds like her rural hometown in Arkansas doesn't have much in the way of opportunities and she says that her whole life she just wanted to break the cycle of poverty for her kids. Even as a child, she fought to get an education with two parents that could not read or write. So here she is, spending a month in the park working with plants and soils, with nine dollars to her name and some blocks of Ramen noodles. She couldn't be happier.

And I was feeling bad about running out of Easy Mac.