"The joy and pain of growing up came to each
of us in different ways, but no one endured the experience alone. And so it was
when Mary Ellen tried her first searching steps away from her childhood. It was
a time of joy and pain for her and for the rest of us as well".
John-Boy drives with Jason to Ike’s store.
They talk about Mary Ellen’s first steps at becoming a nurse as they enter the
store. Ike wonders why she is in the store all the time, and they say she is
expecting graduation presents. Ike tells then that a letter has arrived for
“Miss Mary Ellen Walton” from the University of Virginia; School of Nursing;
Charlottesville, Virginia. Ike says there is also a package for John from
Richmond, and another package for Miss Nora Taylor, the public health nurse,
from the Center Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. Ike says Nurse Nora’s package
has been there for a while because she is at the Basham place treating someone
sick. John-Boy offers to deliver the package to her. Ike says that if anything
looks like a graduation present, he will personally deliver it to Mary Ellen.
Back home the boys find Jim Bob checking to make sure Mary Ellen doesn’t get near
the mill. John and Grandpa are working on the trunk for Mary Ellen, only
needing the handles that are on order. They are happy to find that John-Boy has
picked them up at Ike’s. Jason says the trunk looks “snazzy”. As Ben walks in
Grandpa says the handles look prettier than in the catalog.
John-Boy walks inside to see Olivia and
Grandma redoing an old suitcase for Mary Ellen. He shows them the letter. Jim
Bob loudly says hello to Mary Ellen so they know she is approaching. Olivia
rushes the suitcase up to John-Boy’s room where they try to find a safe place
for it. Mary Ellen calls out to her mother to come down so she can read the
letter to her. They find that she will take the entrance examinations at the
nursing school, and can stay overnight. Elizabeth blurts out that she’ll need a
suitcase (realizes her mistake) and says, “or at least a sack or something”.
Mary Ellen begins to search for the old suitcase, and Olivia scolds Elizabeth
for what she said. John-Boy convinces Mary Ellen to go with him when he
delivers the package to Nurse Nora so she can tell her the news.
They ride Old Blue to the Basham place where
they talk about the difficulties of college. Mary Ellen says she just wants to
see the world off of the Mountain. Lair Basham is sitting with a bandaged left
foot. Nora comes outside to say that she is treating his daughter-in-law,
Essie, for a rheumatic heart condition. Mary Ellen tells Nora she will soon be
taking her nursing exams. As they leave, the little Basham girl, Sue, asks why
the mule’s name is Old Blue when he is white. John-Boy says that they tried to
find a blue one, but “they are scarce in these parts”.
Mary Ellen and Erin hunt unsuccessfully for
the suitcase. Grandma tells Erin to tell her sister that the suitcase might be
in the barn (and dream up any excuse to keep her away from the house), so they
can gather up the family for her party and presents. The girls see Myrtle,
Chance, and her calf eating while they search. Grandma opens the cellar door so
Grandpa, Ben, and Jason can take the homemade ice cream and other things to the
front yard. John and John-boy bring the trunk to the porch. Olivia walks to the
porch with a chocolate cake. Grandma yells to Mary Ellen that they’ve found the
suitcase. When Mary Ellen arrives, they surprise her. Jason gives her pencils
(with large erasers for all of her mistakes) and John-Boy gives her a book
about Florence Nightingale (the idol of all the nurses).
Mary Ellen packs her suitcase as Erin begins
to take her sister’s clothes out of the dresser. Mary Ellen thinks she should
wait until she moves out of the house. Elizabeth walks in with Mary Ellen’s
baseball glove. Erin says that she should wait to take the mitt until Mary
Ellen actually leaves. Olivia goes out to the front porch to find John thinking
about his oldest daughter going out in the world. John remembers when Olivia
was worried when John-Boy and Jason first went off, but this time it’s his
“baby girl”.
John-Boy takes Mary Ellen to Charlottesville
for the examination. She walks to the nurses’ station to sign in at
“Registrations”. A nurse shows her where she’ll sleep and introduces her to
Joyce Parrish of Richmond. Both girls talk about their anxiousness. At home,
Olivia brings sweet cider to John and Grandpa, but finds Ben and Jim Bob
working, too. John and Olivia flirt and talk about Mary Ellen being away. Mary
Ellen, at the same time, is taking her examination. She has trouble with
several questions, and is directed to the admissions nurse. Mary Ellen returns
home in tears, unable to complete the test because of not knowing algebra and
chemistry. John-Boy finds his sister crying in her room. Mary Ellen says that
she feels ignorant, but John-Boy says that no body knows everything. Mary Ellen
describes the hospital as the “cleanest, whitest thing you’ve ever saw” and
“beautiful simplicity”.
John-Boy helps Mary Ellen with algebra, but
isn’t sure he can help with chemistry. They get the idea that Nurse Nora could
help because she has taken the test. Later, Mary Ellen walks up to the Basham
place to find Violet making food. Mary Ellen starts to straighten up the place.
She tells Nora that she needs help with the exam, and is willing to offer her
help in exchange. That night, Nora explains what will be and not be covered on
the exam. She says that she will need algebra only for the entrance exam. Mary
Ellen helps Mrs. Basham, gives the two younger children baths, and tells Violet
how helpful she has been to them.
Nora tells John and Olivia how helpful Mary
Ellen has been to her. John wonders if nursing is right for Mary Ellen, but
Nora says that Mary Ellen will decide for herself. John decides to take some
food and supplies up to the Basham place. John-boy writes in his journal: “There
is a lot of activity around here today. Daddy and I are talking some supplies
up to the Basham’s. Miss Nora is making her rounds up in the hills, so Mary
Ellen is alone up there taking care of Mrs. Basham. I will stay up here and
help in whatever way I can.”
Grandpa says that the ham that they are
giving to the Basham’s is from the pig Petunia. As Ben milks Myrtle he has a
new idea that will make them a lot of money: grow goats the size of cows to
produce ten times more milk. John and John-Boy walk up to Lair Basham and ask
if they can have some of his trees in exchange for some “garden truck and ham
and such”. John tells Mary Ellen that she looks tired, but she says It’s “a
good tired”. Sue, the little girl, walks up and John plays with her. At home,
John tells Olivia how grown-up Mary Ellen looked. John says he is bothered by
it. Olivia quotes a saying, “A son is a son until he takes a wife. A daughter
is a daughter for the rest of her life.” John says that when Mary Ellen gets
married the man must be “some kind of a man”.
In the morning, with the Basham children
asleep Mary Ellen wakes up to find that Mrs. Basham has passed away. Mary Ellen
thinks for a few seconds, and then wakes up Violet. They go outside where Mary
Ellen says that morning is a quiet time, a peaceful time. She wants Violet to
remember it this way. Mary Ellen tells her that mothers tell their daughters
nice and pretty things, and that she should remember those things about your
mother when she goes away. Violet realizes her Momma has gone away, but also
doesn’t hurt anymore.
Olivia walks in front of the house to see
John-Boy and Mary Ellen ride up on Old Blue. John-Boy says the circuit preacher
is taking care of matters. He says to Olivia that she would be proud of Mary
Ellen. Olivia says, “I am.” Mary Ellen finds Elizabeth home sick from school.
She says it’s scary to be away from home, but Elizabeth says that she is the
bravest person she knows of. Mary Ellen says that she only talks that way.
"By summer's end Mary Ellen had been accepted
at the School of Nursing of the University of Virginia. All of us watched her
grow through those difficult weeks as she gathered the knowledge and maturity
she needed. At the end of it, Mary Ellen knew that nursing was to be her life,
and as long as she pursued it, it was rewarding to her and to everyone who knew
her as a nurse and loved her as a person".
Erin
screams.
Olivia: Erin, was that you?
Erin: There's a cricket in my bed! A big fat cricket!
Olivia: Jim Bob did you put that in Erin's bed?
Erin: Jim Bob....
Grandpa chuckles.
Jason: It was Grandpa!
Erin: Mary Ellen, I wish I could go away to school with you.
Elizabeth: So do I, I'd have my very own room.
John: Everybody go to sleep!
Erin: I'm gonna get you Grandpa!
Grandpa laughs.
Notes:
John-Boy is a junior at Boatwright University, Jason is a sophomore at Kleinberg Conservatory of Music, and Mary Ellen has been accepted into nursing school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
According to the introductory remarks by Earl Hamner, it’s the end of summer (of 1937).
Also appearing:
Ike Godsey (Joe Conley); Nora Taylor (Barbara Eda-Young) Lair Basham (Jon Lorner); Essie Basham (Tamar Cooper); Violet Basham (Shannon Terhune); Sue Basham (Kim Durso); Nurse Jenny Stevens (Charlotte Moore); Nurse Collins (Ann D’Andrea); Nurse Smith (Elizabeth Rogers); Joyce Parrish (Stephanie Siler).