I remember when I became a
deaconess, but I never thought that on this day I would be
writing an article on what I remembered. After having been on the
college campus for a number of years, I decided to buy a small
motorcycle. It was a red Honda. What fun it was from the moment
it appeared on campus! And how the students enjoyed it. Every
afternoon about the time for me to leave the office I was waited
on by students. Each wanted to ride with me around the parking
lot. They loved for the Dean of Women to take them on a ride. And
the Dean loved it as much as they did! On Hallowe’en I
dressed for the occasion and paraded in the campus event. I will
never forget this fun and happiness for me as well as for the
students.Let’s move to another event that I remember. This was during the war years. A request had come from the Federal and State governments to conserve energy. A notice was sent that lights in the halls during certain hours would be turned off. The first time they were turned off, the lights were back on in just a few minutes. When I confronted the person responsible, she responded by saying that her canary needed light. She threatened to write a letter reporting me to the "powers that be." As far as I know, no report was ever written.
I must let you know that professors are not always as smart as they believe themselves to be. One person, when talking with a personal friend of mine, said to her that he couldn’t understand Mary Bethea’s leaving the college campus and going to a retirement home to live with old people, and even more, sit on the porch and rock with them. What a concept he had of what retirement is like. I think he needed to come and visit a retirement community, stay a few days, and maybe get a different opinion.