Caroline Whitehead is a tall, dark-haired woman with strikingly beautiful facial features. She is intelligent and personable and easily makes friends. Her father was a minister in a small town and her mother was his right hand. Her father often joked, “I preach the word of God and mother is in charge of everything else.”
Caroline’s father was a gentle soul who avoided confrontation as often as he could. Her mother, on the other hand, was out-going and no-nonsense who was active in the Ladies Auxiliary, charitable deeds and community fund raisers. She seldom took ‘no’ for an answer and had no problem making up her mind about issues. She lived the old saying, ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person’.
Caroline modeled herself after both parents but mostly her mother.
An observant child with a kind, compassionate nature, she watched her mother closely developing organizational skills, the ability to relate to strong-willed parishioners but keeping her feminine persona. Caroline rarely needed discipline depending on the nature of the ‘correction’. Quite often it was her father who went into philosophical and religious examples so as not to hurt her feelings or make her feel a lesser person. When mother corrected, it was short, to the point, ending with a “you do understand, dear, I am sure”.
At one time Caroline wanted to be a school teacher and enrolled in university to achieve that dream. In her final year, she met Robert Whitehead and that chance meeting changed the life path she had set for herself. Mother approved and father was delighted to have a future minister in the family. Caroline finished university, they married and moved to a little village called Newcombe.
Caroline remained close to her parents. Her mother often advised on congregational matters and her father discussed many points in religious theories with Robert. Life was good for Caroline; not what she thought her life would be but she loved her husband and was content. The only shadow in the marriage was there was no child.
The next post will be on Margaret and Violet Sills