AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure,” he said.
“Let’s continue.”
“Well, the lighthouse keeper at the time was really old and he passed away shortly after my great-grandparents were married, and the position became available. My great-grandfather essentially volunteered to fill in until the community could find a replacement and, well, they never did, so he just kept doing it. He moved his family into the house a few months later.”
“Interesting. So, you could say he was kinda grandfathered into the position.”
Oliver nodded. “He had to learn everything on his own, without a predecessor to teach him the ropes, but he caught on quickly and found his own way of doing things. My great-grandfather had been a smart man, far beyond his years in terms of technology, and he’d designed some lighthouse features that made the process smoother. Unfortunately, he hadn’t learned to read and write, so my great-grandmother kept the daily logs back then.”
“Wow, so it was a family effort from the start?”
He nodded. “She only had the one son, which was odd back then, but the three of them lived here and ran things together.”
“And then your grandfather William Klein took over once Henry died?”
“About five years before. Great-Grandpa showed him the ropes and it became his one true love.”
Rachel looked surprised. “Not your grandmother Rose?”
Oliver shook his head. “That relationship was a little less romantic. My grandfather hadn’t wanted to get married or have children. He was a quiet, mysterious sort with an obsession with the sea. But he also liked to drink at the local pub and, well, he and Rose hooked up.”
Rachel laughed. “I’ll try to find a nicer way to put it in the article.”
“Yeah, well, my father was the result of that hookup, and when Rose told William he was the father, they got married. But there was never much love between them. Rose lived here and they raised my dad together until he was sixteen. Then Rose left. I’ve never met her. I believe she lives in a home in Anchorage.” He’d never had the desire to reach out. His father hadn’t spoken much about his mom. Neither of his grandparents had seemed very loving or hands-on with Oliver’s dad. He was more of a burden, by the way his father told it.
“And your grandfather died of pneumonia at an early age, with only one heir, your father, right?” Rachel asked, consulting her own records.
“That we know of,” Oliver joked. “As I said, he liked the local pub... But yes, he died at forty-two, when my dad was twenty-two. Dad took over from him. My parents met at church.”
“Your family was religious?”
Oliver shook his head. “My mother was. My dad saw her go into Sunday service when he was running errands in town and decided to stop in. He sat next to her and said he fell in love with her angelic voice. She dragged him to church every Sunday after that and he said he only went to hear her sing.”
“That’s a nice meet-cute,” Rachel said. “So, they had you and you were their only child?”
“Yes. My parents had wanted lots of children, but my mother had complications during childbirth. We almost lost her, so they decided to stop trying for more.”
“You grew up in the house and the lighthouse has always been your home?”
Oliver’s chest tightened. “Yes. I think it was always assumed I’d eventually take over.” Growing up, he’d never really contemplated his future. He knew that the lighthouse would fall on his shoulders someday and he never really felt one way or another about it. It was just predetermined fate and he’d never questioned it or allowed himself to want more.
“Did you have a passion for the family business or was it more of an expectation? Out of obligation?” Rachel asked the question as though reading his mind.
“A bit of both. By the time I took over, the coast guard was officially in charge of things and I just became a member of the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation. I maintain the systems here, but they are all so advanced and automated now that there’s not as much work as there used to be.”
“Can you briefly detail that work for my readers? I’m sure they’d love a glimpse into the operations side of things,” she said. “This job is such a mysterious one for many people.”
Oliver wasn’t so sure the day-to-day was all that interesting, but he briefly explained things in terms most laymen could understand for the article. He explained how the lights no longer needed to be tended to on a daily basis, just quarterly or semiannually, but they still needed to be checked by a professional to ensure they could be depended on when needed. He outlined how technicians inspected the main and secondary optics, verifying the beacon’s characteristics and checking the associated electronic support equipment as well as testing the sound signal’s component and its Mariner Radio Activated Sound Signal system, needed in thick fog or bad weather conditions.
When he noticed her eyes start to glaze over, he laughed and stopped. “Not so exciting, huh?”
Rachel laughed. “I may edit some of that,” she said. She pointed to the document on the table that held a timeline of events and notable changes in the lighthouse operation from 1916, when the first flashing acetylene lights were used to automatically replace burned-out electric lamps, to 1921, when the first radio fog transmissions started, to the late 1930s, when remote control operations were introduced.
“If it’s okay, I’ll add this timeline to the article as a side note as well, for those history buffs who want all the details,” she said.
He nodded.
“For this article, I really want to focus more on the human element—you,” she said.
