Off in Texas

Gober, Texas 30 July 2012

Today while roaming the backroads of north eastern Texas, I found the little community of Gober. Cade Overton is traveling with me, and as we headed down the road towards Gober, I told him the significance of the name Gober in my life -- my first wife, Jeanne Carolyn Gober, died from cancer during the eighth year of our marriage. Gober is not a common name, and as we approach the center of the community, I said to Cade that I hoped to find just one thing in the town that I could photograph with the name Gober on it. With great elation, and like magic, the old Post Office appeared on our left. I yelled, and stomped the brakes.

But there is more to the story....

Just as we were finishing making our images, another car pulled up, and out jumped three kids and two adults. The woman's grand father had been from Gober, and he had told her the story of the two chairs under the tree to the right in the image. When the Postal Service built a new building, the Post Master of the Gober office was on in years, and he loved the little old building. He hated the new building down the road. He retired, and everyday would come sit in one of the chairs so he could visit with people who he had known for most of his life. One morning he was found slumped over in one of the chairs having died soon after he had sat down that morning.