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INTRODUCTION
Hello, my name is Richard P Carpenter and I’m the son of Matthew P Carpenter who just happens to be the brother of Simon Peter Carpenter. This would make the main character Simon Peter, my uncle, and the reason why I’m qualified to write this sometimes sad, sometimes horrific, sometimes romantic (one-sided), sometimes funny and most of all, often unbelievable story.
I will be using, not only the Carpenter diaries (family history), as a guide for my research, but also, personal letters, postcards and stories.
Through these letters and diaries, I could tell some very interesting stories abut the men and women of the Carpenter clan, but I’ll leave them for my next five or six novels.
My story, if told, would be the least interesting of all the hundreds of exciting tales from the Family Archives. Although I’ve been writing for many years, I would (nor would anyone else) call me an author. I’m sure my agent keeps me around out of pity. Oh’ did I mention he’s my cousin, and this makes it sort of his duty to help out the family, when need!
Anyway, this story is defeatistly not about me. It’s about a man who wasn’t known as a great man or hero, but as you will soon find out, he was a man who did great things in his lifetime.
I’ve got a lot to tell you about my Uncle Simon Peter. Although his story covers over 70 years, I will try not to bore you too much, but I also don’t want to leave any of the good stuff out.
So, just sit back and let yourself get lost in this great adventure called “A WAGON IN THE WOODS”.

Richard P Carpenter

CONTENTS
The Forward
The Introduction

CHAPTER 1
Visiting Hours

CHAPTER 2
A Change of Life Baby 1944

CHAPTER 1
VISITING HOURS
Come on, get the lead out! Don’t you know I’m late and I’ve got no time for this turtle crawl. I must have looked pretty silly sitting there in my little sports car, banging on my steering wheel and looking like a fool.
When I looked at the car to my right, I tried to get my six-foot frame to go lower in the little sardine can I was driving, but the two young girls in the white convertible kept pointing and shouting, what’s wrong old man, lost your patience and your hair?
After a few long moments they moved away, but I’m sure I could still hear them laughing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the big city, it’s the other few million drivers I have a problem with. I’m sure the police haven’t giving out a speeding ticket on this highway in 30 years. You could probably get to your destination faster if you walked.
Well enough complaining already! Oh, and that’s another thing city folk do is complain, a lot!
I finally got to my Uncle Simon’s house and of course he was sitting on the front steps. There he was in all his glory with a big smile on his face. He quickly got to his feet without holding on to anything for support. This is a little amazing considering he’s in his 70’s.
We didn’t talk much as we drove to the “Shady Tree Nursing Home” where he volunteered. Actually, the real reason he goes to the home six days a week is to look after his long-time friend Doreen Miller. I guess you could say they had the longest one-sided romance in history. Sense they were young kids back in the fifties, Sarah dreamed that one day she would change her name to Sarah Carpenter, but that was never to be. People would often say that she was happy knowing they had a friendship that would last a lifetime. I often wondered if she stayed single all those years because she believed in miracles. I’m sure, now that she has dementia, we will never know.
One day on the drive home I asked him why he bothered coming to the home everyday and sitting beside a person who didn’t even know who he was? He just gave me a big smile and in a soft voice said, That’s true young man, but I know who she is!

CHAPTER 2

A Change of Life Baby 1944

John and Milly Carpester have five children, three boys and two girls. Grandma Milly has just turned forty-four and is pregnant again. Both her Doctor and her midwife Mrs. Brody have told her that because she is in her forties, she may have complications with this last pregnancy. They explained to her that this child may not be as healthy as her other children.
Grandma Milly thanked them both and then said, God is in charge and no matter what the challenges, we will love this child the same way we have loved our other children.
We understand that this child may not be a six-foot mite eating machine or a beautiful woman like her sisters, but he or she will have all the love and opportunities to be the person God wants them to be and do the things that will glorify his name.
My Grandmother was no ordinary woman and with her faith in the Lord, she could handle any situation life would throw at her. She never told God how big her problem was, she just told her problem how big God was.
Papa John couldn’t help smiling from ear to ear as Mrs. Brody handed him his son. I guess he’s the runt of the litter but we can fatten him up with Momma’s cookin.
Grandma just cuddled her little bundle of joy to her chest and looking up to heaven, she cried, God I know you have a plan foe everyone of us so all I ask is that you give my precious little boy a fighting chance.
Honey, the kids want to see their new brother, is it okay if they come in now? She was just about to say yes, let them all come in when Mrs. Brody stood between Papa John and the bedroom door and shouted an order, that only two at a time could come in. Papa John just smiled and said, you’re the boss and then he opened the door a little and said to my Aunt Elizabeth the oldest child to let the two youngest boys Matthew and mark in first, then John Jr. and Margaret and she could come in last and spend a little more time with her mother.
Okay Dad but what about Stinky, he wants to see our new brother. No, I think him and the other animals will have to wait for another time to see their new Master Mr. Simon Peter Carperter.
Out of all the children the now former baby of the family Mark was the least impressed. He loved to play a dual role in the family high hagiarchy. While playing the part of the baby he got away with doing stuff that the other kids never could. He also played to his strengths. Mark means warrior and whenever he could he would try to rule over his siblings especially his sisters. He liked everyone to call him Sampson, although whenever Luke or John Jr. were around, he usually stayed in the background.
Because the Carperter family was so closely knit, things seemed to work themselves out. Eventually even this brotherly conflict was sure to go away, with time of course.
Grandma didn’t have to wait long to see that the advice of the professionals before she gave birth would come to pass. Simon Peter was a sickly boy and except for a few good summer days, there was never a time when he wasn’t coughing or with a fever or both. There was never a time when it was suggested the new baby boy should be put in the hospital. And heaven forbid anyone would mention the possibility of placing him in an institution. Of course, the more Simon Peter got sick, the more the Carperter family prayed.
After many months of tests, the Doctor finally gave the bad news to the family. Everyone just sat there not saying a word as Dr. Bradshaw spoke in a low voice. Your son has bursitis or in layman’s terms, whooping cough. Apparently, he caught it from the caretaker at the hospital who was doing some work in the nursery. He also gave the virus to three other babies. The man didn’t know he was sick as he didn’t have any symptoms.
The good thing is that there is a vaccine for the virus and although Simon Peter will be sick with a runny nose, fevers and coughs, if the shots work, he could grow out of it in about eight or ten years. I know that sounds like a long time but a few years ago he would have only lived four or five years.
Grandpa John stood up to talk after the Doctor left. Although he was very shaken up, he cleared his throat and with a voice of authority he said, this family has faced harder situations than this over the years and we are not going to let a virus bring us to our knees. We’re going to take this journey on like it never happened. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. So I expect everyone to do their part and anyone that complains will answer first to me and then to God.
Of course, Grandma Milly played the part of the leader when it came to looking after Simon Peter’s health. All the children did more than was expected, except for Mark (Samson) who still had his nose out of joint at not being the baby anymore. He was never hostile or mean to his baby brother, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to help and would never volunteer to lend a hand.
To most of the family Simon Peter’s wellbeing became an obsession. It was almost like the kids were trying to outdo their siblings.
Because Grandma Milly was the prime caregiver, she noticed things first, like how Simon Peter showed his ability to learn to do things a lot sooner than his brothers and sisters.
He was walking at seven months and this was unusual. He was tall for his age and didn’t have much meat on his bones because he was always sick. I guess what he lacked in muscles, he made up for in determination. As a matter of fact, he only crawled for a short time and spent most of his day climbing on things.
His brothers and sisters didn’t pay much attention to their baby brother until he started talking. First, he started to say a few words at ten months but he soon was putting together full sentences at fifteen months.
He was home schooled and spent many hours with his Mother but that was only part of the reason that he was so advanced. One reason which no one knew at the time was he was blessed with a photographic memory, something that is very rare today.
He was like a sponge soaking up everything he heard so by the time he was three years old he could read and write and even started to not only read the Bible but also memorize it.
What really took the cake was when the other children were doing their homework, he would sit with them and in most cases, he would watch and listen and then the next time he would help them finish their assignments and also prepare them for future work on all their subjects.
It didn’t take a genius to recognize a genius. Grandma Milly just threw up her hands one day and said, I’m sorry son but I can’t teach you anything else, you need to be around university and college professors. He was only nine years old at the time.
Grandpa John sent away to Brighton which was the big city about forty miles away. Our little town only taught up to grade twelve and even that class was very small because most kids just got enough education to help them run the family farms and stay up with any new trends or machinery in the farming industry.
By the time Simon Peter reached ten, he was well known for many miles around. In one of the family diaries there is a story about the county fair. Apparently, the Carpenter family would set up a booth and put up a sign that read “ask a question” that Simon Peter couldn’t answer and win $100.00. The family didn’t pay out many hundred-dollar bills.
There was one big change in the farming community and that was the use of animals. Cars and trucks were taking the place of wagons. This would be a slow process, because most farmers were poor and even though Ford made the automobile affordable, it was still out of the reach of most people.
The Carpenter family were better off than most of their neighbors. As a matter of fact, they were the first to own a brand-new truck. They retired their wagon, but kept the work horses.
Grandpa John found a nice spot in a clearing in the woods, just north of the upper wheat field next to Slider’s Creek.
Kids would come from miles around to spend time on the wagon. But the main attraction was Simon Peter. He would turn the wagon into whatever fit his stories, like a boat if he was telling the story of Jesus in the storm or a Church or a house. The kids would sit mesmerized by the stories from the Bible. They even had a name for their group “the wagon adventurers.”
The group consisted of Doreen Miller, Vince Smodis, Freddie (Blinky) Summers, little Betty Stoniman, the Buker twins John and James and of course the most important member was Stinky the family dog. At times even Mark (Samson) would show up, but wouldn’t show up or speak.
Wagon Stories/Journeys
Simon Peter was definitely the leader of the pact. He even had the others bring potatoes bags(burlap) which they cut holes for their arms and head to show. He told them that those were the clothes the Apostles wore in Jesus time.
One of his favorite stories from the Bible was when Jesus fed the five thousand. He would break up a stick and some leaves and the group would pretend to pass them out. He would tell them that they were just like Jesus followers. They would smile and take the name of their favorite apostle and the two young girls would pretend to Mary, Martha or Naomi.
Because Simon Peter knew every story, he would create such a vivid atmosphere the children actually believed they were the people they were pretending to be.
The only time Samson would smile and look exited was when Simon Peter would tell the story of Sampson and Delila. These Bible stories were told over and over during the summer. When winter came, the group got together less often, but when they did, Simon Peter would take them to different countries, like Hawaii or the Caribbean, always somewhere hot. If you are from a small town or village then you know that the only glimpses of the outside world were through books or if you were lucky, you would get to go to a movie where you would see some forever land. The group was very fortunate to have someone like Simon Peter who had read every book available on travel.
These times on the Wagon formed a bond with everyone in the group that would last a lifetime. Although some friendships did last a long time none of them outlived the (one-sided) love that Doreen Miller kept in her heart for Simon Peter. It was so strong that it lasted over sixty years.
Although Simon Peter didn’t show Doreen his affection, he did keep a very strong friendship and Doreen accepted any arrangement that kept her secret love close. Their letters and postcards are now part of the Carpenters family archives.
Samson VS Simon Peter
I should have titled this section “Family Rivalry versus Brotherly Love.”
Samson never got over being replaced as the baby of the family. He did however manage to keep his jealousy under control most of the time.
A few times when he tried to get attention from others, especially the group and Doreen, he would do silly things. One time he announced for about a week that he was going to put on a “Strong Man Show” on the following Saturday.
He set up the yard in front of the big barn with heavy objects like a bale of hay or pieces of old machinery. He even had a few big rocks(boulders) and had to use the big wheelbarrow to put them in place.
When Grandma Milly saw the objects that her son was going to try and lift, she told him that they were too heavy and not only could he not lift them, he could hurt himself.
No one disagreed that Samson had a good body with lots of muscles, but he never had any training to lift things properly.
Anyway, the day would surely end in disaster for the boy named Samson.
Only the family showed up at first, but many of the group came in one at a time. It was clear that they would tolerate Samson showing off, just so they could be around Simon Peter.
As Grandma Milly predicted, the exhibition didn’t go well. Samson hadn’t tried to lift any of the objects beforehand. He was so sure he could lift anything he put his …

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