The Road Taken Read Online Free PDF

several hours a day cleaning and doing the wash, while she herself attended to the meals. Soon she had two more children of her own. William was generous and she had as many new clothes as she wanted. Although Alfred was only ten by now, Celia was already dreaming of sending him to college some day. She put aside some of her household money privately every month for this, even though she had persuaded William to do the same. He was saving for Hugh’s college, so he would save for Alfred’s too. That was the way it had to be, they both agreed. Brothers. Education, betterment, the American dream.
    But what odd brothers, she thought. Alfred was everything a young man should be, a serious, manly young man, old for his years, while Hugh was like a puppy. Hugh always played with his sisters as his first choice over other friends; his few neighborhood friends were pathetic little creatures, and she had seen him often playing with several girls, as if he were one of them. What a poor little sissy he was, Celia thought. His father should have paid more attention to him. But now that Hugh had Alfred, she hoped her son would be a good influence on him, if not right away, then eventually. Hugh obviously adored Alfred, as well he should, and he seemed eager to learn from him, although Hugh never seemed to learn enough. Not that I care, Celia thought. It’s for William.
    That year Celia asked William to give Alfred his name, so that all the children could feel more alike. William was glad to, and Alfred Kisler became Alfred Smith. Hugh was delighted, more so, Celia noticed, than Alfred was, even though Alfred didn’t remember his real father.
    Maude finally became engaged, at twenty. “I hope it’s not going to be a pattern in this family, marrying late in life,” Celia said. Maude had been so popular with the young men in town, so pursued and flattered and courted, that she claimed she couldn’t make up her mind. But Celia felt it was more because Maude was so tied to her family, and that all three of the older children were too dependent on each other in that curious way.
    Celia and William gave Maude a beautiful church wedding, and afterward a garden party reception at home. Rose was the maid of honor, and four of Maude’s girlfriends from school were bridesmaids. Daisy was an adorable, toddling, absentminded flower girl, but Harriette was still too young to be a part of the ceremony. Hugh, the ham, had begged to be the ring bearer with the satin pillow, even though in Celia’s opinion he was too old for that, and she was glad when the groom decided the best man was going to hand over the ring. Hugh and Alfred were made ushers.
    The groom, lanky, red-haired Walter Miller, worked at the local bank. He was not at all the one Celia would have expected Maude to choose, neither the wealthiest nor the most handsome of her numerous suitors, but Maude was obviously in love with him.
    “Walter is the funniest man I know,” Maude said. “He makes me laugh all the time.”
    You’ll need a sense of humor to survive marriage, Celia thought unexpectedly, surprised she had thought it. But she didn’t say it; she just smiled. At the dinner after the wedding Celia looked at her own family at the long table—the sisters and brothers all blended now, Hugh and Alfred side by side, Rose feeding little Daisy, baby Harriette in her mother’s arms, William the proud patriarch—and felt secure.
    Maude and Walter went to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon, and when they returned they moved into a small apartment near the family while they saved up for a house of their own. Celia helped Maude decorate on a budget, something Celia was good at and enjoyed.
    While Maude was looking forward to having children, Celia didn’t want any more and told her doctor so. A device called a pessary was available at the pharmacy as a womb support for women who had given birth to so many children that their uterus was prolapsed or distended, a commonly diagnosed