WAITING FOR SUMMER... with high hopes (Part 108i)

 There wasn’t time for a real "reaction” on my part as I had to push us off to get us out into the wind. There wasn’t much of it though. I could see wind ripples out towards the middle of the lake so we headed in that direction.

It was hardly worth the effort because what little wind there was barely moved the boat. I quickly got the idea that Peggy was happy that there wasn’t more wind. We did get a few puffs that started to tip the boat and she let out a bit of a squeal each time. I became worried that the wind would drop so much that Elle wouldn’t get a chance to get out so we headed for shore, paddling by hand the last little bit. Once there I jumped into the water to hold the boat so Peggy could get off. As she took the few steps to shore I couldn’t believe my eyes. The seat of her shorts was wet. Now, under normal sailing conditions on this type of boat it would be expected. We never saw a wave the whole time we were out. Other than where Peggy had been seated, the deck of the boat was dry and so was my butt.

Elle was ready and waiting to go. Of our two older girls, Anne was definitely the more adventurous and she insisted that she was going out with us. We’d brought the playpen and the baby appeared to still be happy in it. That left Peggy to occupy Jean while Elle, Anne and I were out on the water. As we pushed off I took a look back at them and wondered about Peggy’s wet bottom.

There was still very little wind but Anne enjoyed her ride anyway. She wanted to steer so I let her sit beside me and handle the tiller. I couldn’t believe how excited she was. Since we’d gotten a late start we didn’t have much time on the water. Arriving back at the shore I paid special attention to Peggy’s rear. It was obvious that the wetness had started to dry in back but, it had wicked up in the front which was quite “exciting”, at least to me. Because of the trouble we’d had getting the Sailfish into the station wagon I made the decision to leave it there taking the sails, dagger board and rudder with us. With Elle’s unfamiliarity with a manual transmission I told her that I’d take Peggy home in my car.

As Peggy started to get she hesitated. I asked her what was wrong and it took a few seconds for her to ask if I had something to put on the seat. As always, I had towels stuffed under my seat and as I handed one to her I could see she was sort of embarrassed. I didn’t say anything and, in fact, nothing was said until we were on the street where she lived. I broke the silence by asking if she thought she might like to try sailing again. That brought her to life. She turned and looked right at me and let out an emphatic “Yes!”. In her driveway as she was getting out of the car she took the towel with her. I asked what she was doing and she answered something like “You don’t want this like this. I’ll get it washed  and give it back”. I remember telling her that it wasn’t necessary and that Elle could do it. She was standing outside the car and looking in at me with what I believed to be an embarrassed look but with a bit of a smile, shaking her head from side to side. Then she walked up the steps.

At home, Elle was putting the baby to bed and asked if I’d help get the other girls washed up and read them a story. Jean, the older, was a bit of a tattle tale. When I was finishing up with her she let me know that she had gone tinkle in her bathing suit out at the lake. It caught me by surprise and I asked her why. In a very matter of fact way she told me that Elle had done it so she thought it was OK. The situation told me that it was time for Elle and I to explain Elle’s condition. She was now six and I felt that she was old enough to know but I wanted Elle to be there as well.

When I told Elle she wasn’t happy about it but agreed with me. However, she felt that Anne should be included. She was coming up on five years of age but she had shown that she was as mature as her sister. Basically, we explained that their mommy had a problem and sometimes she couldn’t help wetting her pants. The point Elle wanted to make was that they were to keep it a secret and not say anything about it to their friends. I remember adding that if they saw their mommy had an accident that it didn’t mean that it was OK for them to tinkle in their pants. I remember them having blank stares as we talked with them. All we could do was hope that they understood.

When Hobie had told me about my promotion he indicated that I would be assuming additional responsibilities. I found out some of them the week after. He called me over to his desk and handed me three folders and told me they were now under my control. I took a quick look at them and saw “Life Insurance”, “Medical Insurance”, and “Retirement” printed on the tabs. I know he saw the puzzled look on my face as he then gave me a card with three names and telephone numbers on it and told me that they would be my “contacts”. I had no idea what any of it meant. I got the distinct impression he was getting a little annoyed so he told me to just look through the folders and ask Trish about them. When I did I remember her rolling her eyes. That sent a bit of a shudder up my spine. It was like these items were a problem and no one wanted to face up to them.

Long story short... they made up the core of the benefits for the bank’s employees. Chuck, the man who had died and I’d replaced, had been the contact person for the bank and responsible for filing monthly reports. Trish told me that Chuck hadn’t been that diligent in keeping things up to date and when he died Hobie, reluctantly, had assumed the responsibility. When he did he discovered problems but didn’t have the time to research them and make the corrections. Now it was my problem. I asked Trish what she knew about the reports and she told me that all she did was type them. I was not very happy!

To be continued...