ALL QUIET ON THE BUCKET FRONT

 Silence has descended on us again.

The house is suddenly very quiet. We had an influx of visitors who came to meet my California family.  It was quite  lively here on Wednesday  when  my cousin Louise (connected to me on the Mowry side--my paternal grandmother's  people)  dropped by with her husband Frank. I love to talk to  Frank because he is full of Pawtucket memories.

 When I mention a person or place it is like TWO DEGREES OF SEPARATION.  He  knew their family or the street that they lived on, or their brothers etc.  He  ran a  variety store in downtown Pawtucket on Main St so that means that he has that kind of  knowledge of people and places.  I recall going into that store for joke gifts or stuff for Halloween.  He and his wife are  lively and very smart. They travel constantly and they eat out every day.  What a couple.  They brought a coffee cake to devour with our regular daily tea time.

  We were joined by another friend Elaine who teaches at  Providence College.Elaine was one of the students in the first class that I taught after I graduated from  college. She was in my 9th grade homeroom at Saint Xavier  Academy in Providence. She  shares my passion for the dramatic arts and has begun to write plays in the last five years with some success.  So she also brought treats to  share  with tea. Thus we were a happy chatty and well fed crowd,  I loved the way the chatter and tea  kept flowing. My husband who is from India brews a perfect cup of tea--Irish style and kept all the cups filled.  It was one of the best gatherings that I have  enjoyed recently. 

I love to be with people, and  when I was in good health I went out all the time.  But now the  writer side of me  has finally found the peace and quiet to emerge and takes up much of my time. And  creative work  requires some degree of peace and quiet. So I would say that a more introverted self has emerged. I do miss the fun of the convivial settings and I do wish that my husband were not so silent. But this is the hand I am  holding now and it is the hand that I must play.

Yesterday, the day of the departure of  my grand daughter Rowan and her mother I dreaded the moment that they would actually  leave.  But the fact that two friends who used to teach at Brown and had retired and left RI in 2009 came back for a visit helped to  smooth over that terrible rupture of departure.

 I think of that  great song from MY FAIR LADY  "I've grown accustomed to your face,"  That perfectly sums up what happens with family that lives far  away.  You want to see them and when  you do it is fine and when they leave it opens the void again that  you had papered over.
 For a week I had the reality of my grand daughter and not just a distant  occasional voice on the phone. She  only texts most of the time.  The rupture of  her departure has left me bereft.

 I am grateful that Paul and Marijo had come by to visit and have lunch with us.  They had lots of stories to tell and  many travel experiences to share. They are a remarkably fit couple.  Their presence  when my darlings left  helped me to  not feel the pain at that instant and  not dissolve into tears.
    
 Those did not come until later last night when fatigue overtook me. (See TEARS, IDLE TEARS) But  I woke up feeling better today and I spoke to Charlotte in PA where she is having another short visit with her mother.  I hope that this trip produces a change for the better  for all of us. I saw their reality but they also saw ours.  It has given me a lot to think about.  I will ponder it in my heart.