Lighthouse Girl

Mother has remarried, I’m very happy for her. I like the man, Mr. Walker. He treats me like the daughter he never had, and has told me to call him Papa. I don’t remember father, since he died when I was two, so I don’t mind giving Mr. Walker that name. It feels nice to be Mr. and Mrs. Walker’s girl rather then Widow Gilbert’s daughter. Almost as if everyone looks at me differently, and I think they do now that Mother and I no longer need their charity. It is a very good feeling.

Papa is a lighthouse keeper and we will be going with him to his post this winter. I don’t look forward to leaving the city, and missing school, to go to the middle of Lake Superior all winter but I guess it is a small price to pay for Mother’s happiness. She wouldn’t like it if I stayed behind in the city while they left, and I’m not really old enough to live alone without getting into trouble. Just imagine how the neighbors would whisper. We will return in the spring to the city though, Papa promised. He also told me he would buy me school books and help me study so I don’t fall behind in my studies.

We have already packed everything away, and are renting the house for the winter. We already sold the house that Mother and were living in before she married, I feel like our little family is rich. I have new dresses, and so does mother, and Papa has a couple of new suits that he looks very good in. Also for the first time in my life I have books that aren’t only for school or for my betterment, but simply for my entertainment. Papa bought them for me because he had noticed how I loved to read.

The boat that brought us to this island has left already. They had other lighthouse keepers and their families to take to other islands and isolated coasts. The island we will spend this winter is even more lonely then I had imagined and we are cut off for the next five months. It isn’t a pleasing prospect though I try to look cheerful in front of Mother and Papa. Papa says this job is why he had never married before but that he loved Mother so much that he couldn’t help himself. He says he knows how hard this job is on everyone and I don’t want to make him feel guiltier then he already does. All he says we must do is care for the light at all times, no matter what the weather, and the rest of our time is our own.

I have already been in the lighthouse tower; I went up almost as soon as we arrived, though I got scolded later because Mother was looking for me to help her unpack our household stuff. The house for the lighthouse keeper is a nice little cottage, attached to the lighthouse tower. It’s nicer even then Papa’s house in town, he says he didn’t look for a nice house since he only lives in it part of the year. The lighthouse even came with a piano and mother is teaching me how to play. I have never learned since we couldn’t afford lessons but Mother learned when she was a girl. Papa says that when we are in the city he will find me a real teacher. Maybe I will grow up to become a proper young lady, I would like that. I am already dressing the part now.

To be continued....