#meet caroline

Sometimes Caroline went to the shipyard with Mama, where the men were already at work on Lieutenant Woolsey’s new gunboat. Sometimes Caroline stayed home with Grandmother, where the garden grew as many weeds as beans and carrots. Always, though, she was waiting for her father–for a glimpse of him hurrying up the hill, for his shout of greeting, for his Papa-scent of tobacco and sawdust, for the feel of his strong hands squeezing hers as if to say, Well done, Caroline. I’m proud of you.