After dinner on my last night as a courier, walking from the big house to pack up my little room everything sat in the right light. Rainbows of flowers in the gardens along the walkway seemed to sit perfectly on their stems. A late evening light glazed the heavy forested hillside in a golden hue. Down in the valley, fog laid on top of the river, skating down stream with the current.
Maybe that’s what it’s like when you realize you’re leaving a great place. All the pieces unite, matching up and playing off each other. As I ascended the stairs to the courier quarters, I relished in my experiences, acknowledging that it would never be the same again. I had come to rural Kentucky, made handfuls of friends, seen many births, spent countless hours in the women’s health halls, eaten poke sallet, celebrated a coon-on- log fourth of July, dug up potatoes with my hands, had a snake fall on my head, learned to sew, kicked open a piñata, - it’s endless.
As I my mind wandered through the piles of my courier experiences, I reached the top of the stairs. I look a final evening look into the wooded atmosphere. It was unmistakable, pronounced even - Wendover in all it’s glory and magic all the way to that final night.
-Amanda
About Me
- fns courier
- Couriers came about when Mary Breckinridge started the Frontier Nursing Service at the beginning of the 20th Century. The courier program began in 1928 to provide non-medical individuals exposure to rural communities, service work, and the FNS mission. Today, the purpose is much the same. I guess the biggest difference is now that midwives have cars and hospitals and there are not all the horses to look after (that was their original mode of transportation), there's a lot more time for other community outreach work.