A Journey Back Home - Maine September 1947

Willard Lowe (Billy) Waning left Maine sometime before 1900 to seek his fortune.  Some fifty years later he returned to Maine, to visit friends and family.  This card, and Addie's Christmas card, are the only documentation we have of the journey.  

Postcard - Front

I've always thought this to be a courageous trip.  Billy Waning was 73 years old when he flew for the first time in his life.  He returned to a state that he had not seen in decades...and he had almost no living nuclear family.  One of his two sisters, and his brother had all passed; as had his parents.  Thus, the closest relatives left were a sister, Nellie, a nieces and two nephews, and several cousins. 

We know from Addie's letter(1) that he visited the Fernalds...it would be interesting to know who else he called upon. 

Card - Reverse

A rather terse note, postmarked Sept 28, 1947, from Portland, Oregon, it reads:

"Dear Ones,

Portland 4pm

Will be here about 2 hrs, am feeling fine like it very much.

Billy W"

Though Billy's airplane trip from Eugene to Portland apparently was a cake-walk, the rest of the journey did not go as smoothly.  Forced to circle over New York for sometime, Billy became airsick, and thus, no fan of air travel. 

And sadly, after all those years away from Maine, for what ever reason or reasons, Billy did not spend as much time away as planned, but returned "home" to Oregon sooner than originally scheduled.(2)

1 Addie's Christmas Card of Dec 1947 refers to visits to the Fernald clan

2 Jom Waning's Letter of August 25th, 1957 states "Don’t know if we can find time to go see Uncle Mat. It is a long way out of our way. May not take long here. I may be like Dad in Maine. It may not take me long to get enough here."