Almanzo remembers his days in Walnut Grove when he wakes up in his bedroom at the Rock House in Mansfield. Takes place in 1936 when Laura and Almanzo are older. Story is in celebration of the anniversary on August 25, 1885. Story complete in one chapter.
The Houses at Rocky Ridge Farm
A Story in Celebration of Laura and Almanzo's Anniversary 8/25/1885
1936
Rock House, Mansfield, MO
Almanzo was a bundle of nerves. This was the third night in a row that he was having trouble sleeping. He sat up and looked around his bedroom. He rubbed his leg. Yep, it was getting worse just as Doc Baker told him it would all those years ago when they lived in Walnut Grove. Almanzo had a stroke which left him partially paralyzed on his left side. He managed to get back full use of his arm through exercise, but gave up on his legs. He refused to do the exercises that Doc Baker gave him and instead opted for a wheelchair. During all this, the Wilder farm was hit by a tornado and was heavily damaged leaving nothing but ruin in its wake. Laura saved Rose and was knocked unconscious for her trouble. But the storm had taken a toll on Laura, leaving her just as depressed as he had become.
Almanzo didn't like what he was seeing. This wasn't the woman he courted and married. She needed his help now and if he had to make a change to do it, he would. And so he learned to walk all over again and he did surprising everyone. He also did one better by building a house to replace the one that fell.
Every time the leg bothered him, Almanzo's thoughts turned back to that time in his life. He couldn't shake it either, no matter how hard he tried. Almanzo knew if the leg really bothered him like it did now, he would have to exercise it a bit and grabbed his cane for support. He stood up, leaning on his right side for balance.
He decided to walk down the hallway and see his beautiful Beth. He wanted to be with her from sunup to sundown. They were hardly ever apart and when they were he missed her terribly. It was always that way, even before they married.
But Beth was still asleep and he really didn't want to disturb her. Not yet anyway. More importantly, he needed to walk. So he washed up, dressed and slipped outside. He took the path from the Rock House to the farmhouse. It was a short walk and it was good exercise for his leg.
Almanzo stopped and looked and stared at it. It took them a long time to build this house, nearly twenty years until it was completed. He built everything to Beth's specifications, taking in her likes and dislikes. He built the kitchen to correspond to her height. The windows had to be large and spacious so she could look out of them every morning and admire their farm and the land surrounding it.
When Rose built Rock House for them, in 1928, she made two separate rooms for both of them. She was being a good daughter, she told them as she handed them the keys as a Christmas present. It had all modern conveniences of the day, but the two of them were just not used to them. They preferred the big farmhouse. After all, Almanzo and Laura built that house together. They cleared the land together, worked the fields together and took care of the farm animals together. They even slept together and once in a while he missed not waking up next to his beautiful Beth, his wife of fifty one years. Yes, Rose built it for them to retire to, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get used to it. THEY couldn't get used to it.
Almanzo sighed. Rose had moved out. Although he was grateful to Rose for all she had done, Almanzo was kind of glad that she was gone. He missed this house. He missed living there. He was seventy eight and Beth was sixty eight. It was time for them to move back in.
He turned and walked back to the Rock House eager to tell Beth about his decision.
Almanzo opened the door and headed down the hallway, but she surprised him. She was sitting in the front room, writing.
"Manly?" she said, turning from her desk to face him. "How's your leg?" She patted the chair next to her.
Almanzo smiled. Beth, he thought, my Beth. She always looked lovely in the morning, actually, it didn't matter what time of day it was. He sat down, leaning the cane against the chair. "It's feeling much better now, that I exercised it a bit." He turned in his chair and took both her hands in his.
"Beth," he continued, "How would you like to move back into the farmhouse? I miss it and I know you do. I know Rose built this place for us, but we're getting older now and I think that I would like to…"
Laura smiled, leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't very long, but it was enough for him.
"Yes, Manly," she said, "I would love to."
He smiled his same old crooked smile. "You haven't changed a bit since we met, Laura. You'll always be my Beth. I will never stop loving you. You are an amazing woman."
"You're not so bad yourself, Almanzo Wilder." she said, kissing him lightly on the lips. "And I will love you always."
Almanzo smiled and kept looking into her eyes.
"When do you think we can move back in?" she asked, breaking the silence. She already knew the answer.
"How about today, Mrs. Wilder?" he said.
Laura smiled. "You've got a deal, Mr. Wilder."
Fact vs. Fiction
In 1928, Rose Wilder Lane returned to Rocky Ridge Farm to care for her parents. Deciding that maybe the farm might be too large for them, Rose built them a smaller house for them to retire to. She had it custom built especially for them. Instead of using wood shingles, Rose used local rocks instead of bricks to build it, which is how the house got its name. At Christmastime the same year, Rose presented the keys to her parents and Laura and Almanzo moved into the five room house. It had all the modern conveniences of the day, central heating, everything electric, including a refrigerator. The house was on one level, no stairs; Rose wanted them to enjoy life as a retired couple and to make it as comfortable for her parents as possible. She built a tenant house and retained a hired man to care for the farm. Meanwhile, Rose rented out Rocky Ridge and continued to live there until 1935 when she left to do research for an upcoming book. The Wilders moved back to the farm in 1936 because they were homesick.
Laura and Almanzo left DeSmet, South Dakota on July 17 and arrived in Mansfield, Missouri on August 30. They bought the land and named it Rocky Ridge Farm after the land it was built on. They lived in Mansfield for a while before moving to the one room cabin that came with the property. Little by little, they built the farmhouse until it was finished nearly twenty years later, in 1913.
Almanzo's memories of Walnut Grove are taken from Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow, Episodes 1 and 2, airing on the 15th and 22nd of February, 1982.
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