Deborah McCandless, English 201, 8:30 class

Interview with Mae Louise Carol

April 18, 2008

Mae Louise Carol was born in 1921 in Arkansas. She was the only girl in a family of six boys, but she loved her brothers dearly. Now, one may think that being the only girl she would be treated delicately or might even be a bit spoiled. However, Mae Louise assures me that she was the independent one; it was her youngest brother Paul whom everyone spoiled because he was the “sweet baby.” When she was a young child, Mae Louise’s father worked for many years with the railroad. It seems he was a union organizer, beloved by the men for protecting them and fighting for their rights but not so adored by railroad management who used to harass him regularly. The pressure mounted over the years and the family finally decided to leave Arkansas and move to Wenatchee where they worked in the apple orchards.

Mae Louise learned to pick and pack apples along with the best of them. As with most folks who work with food crops, she got to eat her fill of apples. She never tired of their sweet, fresh taste or the smell of apples on her hands. Sadly, a few years after their arrival her father fell seriously ill with pneumonia; he passed away just before she entered high school. Her older brothers and mother worked hard to make ends meet and keep the family together. It was very difficult to be so young and in a new place without her father to guide and support her.

Mae Louise met and became smitten with her future husband, Mr. Carol, just before he joined the Marines. Mr. Carol served in Guadalcanal, which Mae Louise described as very dangerous posting. While waiting for her sweetheart to return to her safely, Mae Louise

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worked in San Diego at a dry-shred cabbage packing plant. She loved her work there, the boss was funny and kind, and the work was important to the war effort. The workers filled 5-gallon cans with dry-shredded cabbage that was sent overseas to be reconstituted in various recipes for the men and women in the armed forces. Mae Louise says that cabbage is exceptionally high in nutrients, vitamins and minerals, while being low in fat, which makes it a great food choice for feeding the armed forces. She has many fond memories of her time at the cabbage packing plant including visiting with the other women and learning lots of new things.

Due to some serious health issues Mae Louise lost two babies, and was only able to have one child before having her tubes tied. Her doctor felt that the surgery was necessary as her life would have been at risk had she endured another pregnancy. Carlotta, their daughter, was a very cherished child. So, for many years while Mr. Carol worked at the Bunker Hill mine in Kellogg, Idaho—a job he adored, Mae Louise was completely engaged in “keeping a happy home” and raising their daughter Carlotta.

Some of Mae Louise’s favorite family activities were camping, fishing and hunting. When she and Mr. Carol were young and hearty, they tent camped. As they grew older and had more money, they slowly upgraded their equipment until in her words “we were just as comfy when camping as we were at home.” A favorite story she shared with me was the year that she bagged a really big elk and Mr. Carol went empty-handed all season. She says she loved to remind him of the year she got a big one and he missed out.

This paragraph is especially for Mae Louise, at whose specific request I am taking literary license to add a bit of “extra spice” to her story. On one very notable hunting trip the Carol family encountered one of the Northwest region’s legendary creatures, the illusive

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Sasquatch. It happened as the family was lolling about camp playing a bit of Canasta—Mae Louise was winning as usual, when out of the dense green forest loped a giant, bushy and very

impressive Big Foot. The Carols were so surprised that their Canasta cards flew out of their hands and ended up scattered about the table. Mae Louise, Carlotta and Mr. Carol backed up slowly in order to avoid exciting the burly visitor. The huge creature wandered about camp, sniffing and touching various objects while they watched in amazement. As the Sasquatch left their campsite it picked up a Canasta card and ambled slowly out of camp where he or she, it was rather hard to tell with all that fur, quickly disappeared into the pine forest. The Carols never mentioned the incident to anyone as they were concerned people would think they were crazy or worse – sensationalists.

The Carols loved to travel and explore new places. On one of their trips to Mexico, Mae Louise bought an adorable little purse that looks just like a small, furry brown and white dog. Packed away for a few years and recently rediscovered, I got to meet Poncho as he sat on a blanket in Mae Louise’s lap at the Royal Plaza Retirement Community. I have to say he was quite well behaved and sat without incident for our entire interview. His leash lay across Mae Louise’s arm, but he never pulled or tugged at it, even when I petted him. Mae Louise says he enjoys visitors immensely, but really needs to retire soon. So, in the not too far distant future, it is likely that Poncho will go live with one of her “lovely grandchildren”. Mae Louise was funny, sweet and interesting. It was a joy to spend time chatting with Mae Louise learning about her life history.