by Donald Hancock

Created on: July 24, 2008

OLD RUMMAGE SET ME FREE

"My Old Kentucky Home" was a favorite song of Walter Clyde Farmer. It expressed his great love for the place where he grew up. As a boy he roamed the mountains of Kentucky with his dog, "Rummage". He ca1led him "Rummage" because his Mom had had a rummage sale one day and the dog came early that morning and stayed the whole time the sale went on and wouldn't leave afterwards.

So Walter and Rummage went everywhere together and they loved everything about those Kentucky mountains and hills. Walter loved the seasons and the people and the folklore and just about everything about that land. When Walter got older he left his family, Rummage and his old Kentucky home and went to war with almost everybody else his age. It was World War II and everybody had to do his part.

When Walter came back he was not the same young man that had left, and the farm seemed different too. He had seen the world and he had an itch to see more of it. But he stayed for a while because he didn't want to upset his folks. But one day - the day old Rummage died - he told his folks of his need to go find out where his dreams would take him, so he set out for Louisville.

In Louisville he got a job at a newspaper, not the Courier Journal but a smaller paper. He was just selling ads to start with but his real dream was to write. He made his desires known to the Editor one day and the Editor said, "Walter, writing isn't something that just anybody can do. You can learn a lot from other people but you've got to be born with something special to start with. Why don't we see if you've got that something. Write me a story about anything you choose. And bring it to me tomorrow. "Sure", said Walter, "and thanks a lot Mr. Jarman." The next day Walter brought in the following short piece:

OLD RUMMAGE
My dog, Rummage, was the only friend I had as a boy. He came out of nowhere one day and wouldn't leave, so in one day I went from having no friend to having the best friend a boy could wish for.

When I went to war I missed my folks a lot but I really missed Old Rummage even more. That sounds strange when I say it but I know it's the truth. When I came back home I had dreams of leaving the farm, coming to the city and trying my hand at writing stories -something I had always wanted to do. But I hated to leave my folks again and they were getting old. But most of all I hated leaving Old Rummage, so I just worked the farm and kept my dreams to myself.

But one day it was raining and I was in the barn with Rummage and I was sitting on a hay bale waiting for the rain to let up. Rummage looked up at me as much as to say, "What are you thinkin', Walter?" And I said, "Old buddy, some day I'm going to have to leave this place and go and find out what God sent me here to do. I don't think it's farming because all I think of day and night is telling the stories that crowd my head. And there's nobody here to listen to my stories but you. But don't worry, Rummage, I could never leave you."

That night old Rummage came up and nuzzled my hand in a peculiar way as though he wanted some extra attention, so I hugged him for a long time before I went to bed. The next morning when I went to rouse him, Rummage was dead. When I told my folks he had passed they expressed surprise because he was old but seemed so healthy. I told them that Rummage had died of love - love of me. He loved me enough to do anything he could to see my spirit be free.
The next day I left to follow my dream. And here I am!

Mr. Jarman read the story and put down the paper. "No doubt in my mind you'll find your dream, Walter. And thank God we're going to see you find it here!"

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