Nana: The Girl on the Train - World War II Style

Nana surprised me during my last visit. We were walking through Dollar General and suddenly she asked, "What's this I keep hearing about The Girl on the Train?"
 I said, "Well, it's a book - a thriller actually, about a girl, a train, and a murder. It's also been made into a movie. Why?"
"Well, I was a girl on a train."
"Yes, yes you sure were!" I chuckled to myself, thinking how different Nana was as a girl on a train than Rachel, the character in the book and the movie. I've read the book and I've seen the movie and the train is the only similarity.
While Nana was still writing stories, This is what she wrote about her trip to Austin, Texas on the train:

"I left Williamsport on the Pennsylvania Railroad bound for Austin, Texas with $30 in my pocket.  World War II was in full swing.  I changed trains in St. Louis and boarded the Katy lines.  In the seat across from me were two nice Southern girls.  They said, “Are y’all going plum to Tulsa?”  Not knowing Southern talk, I asked, “Does that mean all the way?”  They answered, “Yes.” 

The train was slow-moving and, while gazing out the window, I saw blue bonnets.  After three days and nights, I arrived in Austin.  I got a room at a boarding house on 1205 Nueces Street.  The landlady, whose name was Mabel Huckabee, was very nice.  She later got me a job at Steck Publishing Company.  I liked Austin, Texas a lot."

Written by Deanie Rhone, April 27, 2011 

Nana was 19 years old at the time of her train trip. Her first time out of Pennsylvania. I can't imagine the courage it took for her to ride that train, all alone with only $30. Although not in the above story, Nana has told us she had to stay overnight in Oklahoma before taking her final train to Austin. Thanks to a kind employee at the train station, she didn't have to spend the night alone in the station. He got her a place to stay and made sure she got on the train in the morning to finish her journey to Austin. That last leg is when she saw the Texas Blue Bonnets that became her favorite flower then and remains so today.

Nana: The Girl on the Train. Her story might not be a bestselling book or a blockbuster movie, but Nana was no less brave than the fictional Rachel. Her real-life drama played out in war time with no clue how her story would end. But, lucky for us, Nana was the girl on the train whose story lives on in her even today.  

Nana in Austin, Texas 1943