Ulrich grew up in the same small town as Annie, and he paid her no mind until one bright May he noticed her in church on a Sunday morning, dressed to celebrate the Lord’s Day. He had conversed with her on previous occasions, but from then on she occupied spaces in his mind. Ulrich, a farm boy, didn’t know anything about being a suitor, and so he had to watch while she paid attention to other men. It was enough to drive a man to drink, and unfortunately, it did.
Young men easily find many distractions, but not Ulrich. Ulrich died an early death. Some said he drank himself to death. Would that his father, or a teacher, had noticed his obsession and guided him onto another path. Life, as Robert Frost said in speaking of a road not taken, is fraught with choices. If we don’t have guidance, we must seek it.
Civilization 