A Man of Letters

The wizened black man climbs carefully up the stairs of the bus.  A young boy, no more than 10 years old follows him closely, holding his small suitcase and the old man's hat.  Family and friends stand on the curb, waving and crying.  The old man takes his seat, the boy next to him.  He places his weathered hat back on his head, and with a big smile, waves goodbye to his family through the window.  The bus, with a huff and a jolt, pulls out of the station and heads north.  The boy turns to the old man, a touch of fear on his face.  "Uncle, what if we're on the wrong bus?"

The old man ruffles the boy's hair and laughs.  Shaking his head, he reassures the boy, telling him that, despite the fact that he, himself has never left the Charlotte Metro in all of his 80 some years, he is sure that he is on the right bus.  The boy smiles and leans against the old man.

This is a story about a man named Elijah Ripley.

The year the stock market crashed, Elijah was 6 years old.  His town of Waxhaw, North Carolina had one school for Negro children and there was no teacher, so Elijah and all of the students of that school stayed home.  With the financial world crashing down all around, no one noticed that the 45 or so children in this small town had no teacher, and no education.

Like others in his situation, Elijah worked in the tobacco fields along side of his mother and father, alternately watching his brothers and sisters and helping out the other field hands.

In 1938, Elijah's mother and father died tragically, struck walking home by a truck, leaving Elijah in charge of his three brothers and two sisters.  He took a job as a tobacco roller and worked from 6AM until 7PM every day.  The money he brought home fed his family -- barely -- but they managed to get through the worst of the Depression with just rumbling stomachs and much reused clothing.

When the United States declared war on Japan in 1941, Elijah Ripley was 18 years old.  Like many men his age, he walked to the Army recruiting station where he was promptly told they "didn't need any 'niggrah' soldiers, thanks very much."  Elijah goes home and continues his back-breaking job, raises his family and smiles.

By the end of the war, Elijah's sister, Tabitha, was married and on her own, and his brother, Thomas, was also married and ready to start his new family.  With only four of them in the house, Elijah found things easier, but continued to work long hours.  His hands were scarred and permanently black on his palms from the tobacco, but at the end of a day, the sweat of his brow put food on the table.

In 1946, school for Negroes reopened in Waxhaw, with the apologies of the town fathers. It was much too late for Elijah and his brothers and sisters, none of whom had learned to read or write.

Over the ensuing post-war years, Elijah's family started their own families, all living nearby, extending the reach of the Ripley family.  Sundays were joyous visiting days, with church first and a picnic next.  Uncle Elijah had his father's place at the table, at the head, and his growing complement of nieces and nephews loved him like they loved their own parents.

In 1959, Elijah watched proudly as his sister's boy, Dennis Jackson, graduated from high school, the first among all of the Ripley family to do so.  As they were leaving the ceremony, Elijah saw something shining from the parking lot next to his sister's husband's car -- a shiny new Lincoln penny.  Sensing the importance of the day, Elijah pronounced this his "lucky penny."  From that day forward, Elijah's lucky penny was the first thing from his dresser into his trousers, and the last thing he placed carefully down before bed.

In quick succession, his other nieces and nephews also graduated high school, Uncle Elijah in proud attendance along side their parents and other kin.  Many went on to college in the turbulent 1960's, becoming lawyers, engineers and teachers.

In 1988, at age 65, Elijah retired from his tobacco company job, much to his own disgust.  He would have never left if it were up to him.  Without a family of his own, his extended family had great influence on him, pushing him to leave the torturous work and take his much-deserved rest.

Elijah was not the resting type.  He once again reopened his home to family and the children of his brothers and sisters, and their children, came to stay with him while their mothers and fathers worked in Charlotte and the nearby towns.

As they went off to school, Elijah began to sense that missing thing in his own life, but pride, and just a bit of shame, prevented him from revealing his secret desire to learn to read.

Finally, in 2004, Elijah had a long heart to heart conversation with his great grandnephew, Moses.  Moses, age 6 and wise beyond his years, noted how Elijah carefully avoided checking the children's homework, reading the paper or many other things that his parents and grandparents did.

It was President's Day, a holiday from school, and Moses asked, as many of the children did, to see Uncle Elijah's lucky penny.  Elijah proudly obliged, and took the now-dull 1959 penny from his pocket to show Moses.

Holding the penny in his hand, looking closely, Moses remarked about the writing on the penny.  Elijah, as he had in other situations, pooh-poohed looking at the small writing, saying his 80+ year old eyes weren't up to the task.  Moses, looking up at his uncle, innocently remarked that it was clear to him that Uncle Elijah was ignorant.

For the first time in his life, Elijah was ashamed.  No one had ever remarked upon his illiteracy, everyone carefully avoiding the subject because they didn't wish to hurt their dear Uncle.

After Moses was picked up by his mother that evening, Elijah picked up the phone and asked the operator to connect him to an adult literacy class.  By the following week, Elijah was enrolled in the equivalent of first grade, by far, the oldest in his class.

With his long habit of hard work, Elijah launched himself into his lessons.  At home, he received coaching from his many nieces and nephews, quizzing him, correctly him and taking joy from his love of learning.

Later that year, for the first time in his life, Elijah opened his birthday cards and carefully, with his glasses perched precariously on his nose, read each and every card himself.  The cheers from his family would have rivaled the crowd at an Atlanta Braves baseball game.

Graduating from his program with honors, Elijah enrolled in the local community college, taking classes and drinking in learning like a man saved from the desert.  At age 84, Elijah Ripley finds a love beyond his family -- books.

Not in small part due to his rather large family and his reputation in the community, word reaches the Chancellor of Howard University in Washington, DC.  In a carefully worded letter, the Chancellor invites Elijah (or as the letter says Mr. Ripley) to DC for an interview to be admitted to college.

Of course, Elijah rejects the idea, telling his family that he is too old and not smart enough.  Finally, at the prompting of Moses and his parents, Elijah agrees to attend the interview.  The family quickly gets to work making the arrangements.  Elijah will travel to DC with one of his family members, stay at the historic Windsor Inn, and tour DC in addition to attending his interview at Howard University.  Elijah, reading about the Windsor Inn, wryly remarks that it is even older than he is.

A crisis is averted when, due to a fear of flying, Elijah finally agrees to go by bus instead of airplane.  He chooses Moses as his traveling companion.  Moses was the impetus for learning to read, and Elijah is determined that Moses bask in his glory.

The big day comes, and as at the beginning of this tale, the bus pulls out of the station in Charlotte, taking Elijah and his great grandnephew, Moses, on their trip to DC.

In DC, they are met by Howard University representatives, who graciously host Elijah and his nephew.  After settling in at the hotel, rest for both weary travelers, they find that the interview isn't until late the next afternoon.  Plenty of time for touring.

Elijah has an important task, he tells Moses.  Without details, he pats his trousers pocket and tells Moses this is an important something.  He refuses to say any more.

The next day, a touring car, hired by Elijah's family, arrives at the hotel.  The car is at Elijah's command.  He issues his order promptly, and a quizzical look from Moses only receives a smug smile from Elijah.

The car arrives at the memorial, and the old man and the boy walk carefully up the manicured lawns and walks to the marble edifice.  Stepping inside the cool shade of the memorial, Elijah looks up at the man represented there.  He reaches into his pocket and takes out his lucky penny.  The man in the memorial looks sadder, despite his relaxed pose.  Elijah looks from one to the other and sighs.

He clears his throat, and in his tremulous voice, reads the inscription "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people, for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

Moses looks proudly up at his great uncle, a man who gave everything for his family and kept only this penny for himself.

Elijah beams, and looking from the penny to the statue, his smile is like the sun.

Turning to Moses, Elijah places his lucky penny carefully in Moses' hand, and gently closes his fingers.  Moses proudly places the penny in his trouser pocket and, taking the old man's hand, leads him from the shadows into the light.

And, that, dear reader, is my story.

Essay submitted by Elijah Ripley,
Candidate for Admission, Howard University
Applicant Accepted