TIME MARCHES ON... changes (Part 122c)
Elle was ready
to tell me about Celia the minute I walked in the door but I certainly
wasn’t ready to hear it. I told her I needed some time to relax plus I
wanted to bring her up to date on the situation with Laura and Peggy’s
parents. After a quiet supper we set the girls up with a craft type
project that my mother had given Anne on her birthday. Kaye was happy to
be scribbling with crayons so I went over the current status at the
bank. I could read from her reaction that she thought it was a good
thing for everybody involved. At that point I told her I was ready to
hear about Celia’s decision even though I really wasn’t.
I’ll try
to condense it: After paying for her husband’s funeral and burial she
had no money in the bank. His death meant the end of his monthly
government checks and there was little else coming in. The property tax
bills were due to be mailed out at any time and were due to be paid by the end of
the year. She’d never worked, having had to care of her invalid husband, so she
had no work skills. Then, she still had to care for Sophie. The only
choice she felt she had was to sell the house and it was in her name,
free and clear. When she talked with her sister while visiting her after
the funeral it was suggested that she and Sophie could go and live with
her.
Elle wanted to know what my thoughts were on her decision.
As I stated earlier, my brain was frazzled and I wasn’t sure I should
comment. But, Elle persisted saying that Celia was pretty desperate and
had asked if I could recommend a real estate agent to list the house
with. Because I was tired I sort of snapped at Elle by saying that she
knew the only one that I knew... her old high school teacher, Vic, who
had handled the sale and transfer of our house. I thought that was the
end of it.
On Friday, I was anxious all day wondering how the meeting of Laura with Peggy’s parents would go. What made it worse was that there was no
easy way for me to find out the result. During the day I kept sneaking a
look at Laura trying to discern if she was nervous. If she was she
didn’t show it. I got a chance to talk with Trish before the end of the
day and asked if she could call me with the result if she were to find
out. She said it would probably be on Saturday as she had a date that
night. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I knew I could've asked Laura to call
but felt that was a little presumptuous. It made for a long evening and
night.
The leaves were falling from our trees like rain. There
were three humongous maple trees and when I looked out the kitchen
window Saturday morning there was no lawn, only leaves. Elle was preparing for
Anne’s postponed birthday party so I was going to be on my own with the
leaves. John, the farmer neighbor, had told me that it would be OK to
just rake the leaves out into his farm so that’s what I started doing.
It was about mid morning when Elle came out to tell me that there was a
call for me. I remember standing in front of the phone and taking a deep
breath before speaking. It was Trish and she had good news. She told me
she’d give me the details at work on Monday. That was all I needed to
hear on that subject.
I’d was glad for the respite as my arms and
shoulders were beginning to ache. It was actually discouraging to look
at how little I’d accomplished as I picked up the rake again. Elle had
wanted at least the very back yard cleared so she could run one of the
games she'd planned for the kids outside. The party was scheduled for 2pm and when
the fire siren went off at noon I was only half way across the back...
and I could hardly lift my arms. I took a break to eat and before I went
back outside I saw Big B’s car pull up. He greeted me by asking if I
needed a hand. His timing was perfect and, more important, he made a
suggestion to expedite the process... a tarpaulin that we could use to
drag the leaves out onto the farm. He got in his car and was back in no
time at all. With his help and the tarp, the back was cleared by the time
the guests started to arrive. When Elle walked out and saw what we’d
done it was obvious she was surprised and happy.
The two of us
continued to rake leaves onto the tarp until the party was over. I had
no idea how to thank ”B“ for his help and when Elle came over to us
after the last of the party goers had gone she gave him a hug, such as it
was. (How do you get your arms around a person who was over 300 pounds?)
She insisted that he stay for supper. He tried to decline the offer but
finally relented saying that he would do it only if he could go home and get a
couple of venison steaks. I’m smiling as I write this because the
look on Elle’s face was a Kodak moment, for sure. ”B“ assured her that venison tasted a lot like regular steak but the look on her face barely
changed. Then he offered to cook them for her in a manner that he
assured her that she’d like. I jumped in saying something along the
lines of how it’d be fun to try something different. Elle still wasn’t
sure as ”B“ headed off to get the steaks.
The taste was a bit
”gamey” but still good. Cooking was just one of “B’s” many talents. We
both got to know a lot about him that evening. We were both pleasantly
surprised when he offered to play a board game with the kids without
either of us participating. It turned out that he had two nieces about
the same age as our two oldest. After the kids were in bed he stayed and
told us about his job, family and interests. The one thing he never
mentioned was car racing for which I was thankful. As he was leaving I
offered to help him get his sailboat out of the water and winterized. He
told me that it wasn’t necessary but that he was going to do it the
following weekend. I vowed I’d be there. Later, in bed, it was obvious
that he’d definitely won Elle over as she actually raved over his
cooking skills and admitted that she enjoyed the venison along with his company.
I
had the feeling that I’d be hearing from Celia and it was soon after we
returned from church. We hadn’t even gotten to the door when she
appeared at the break in the hedge, calling out to me. The frown told me
there was a problem. Elle and the girls went on into the house as I
waited to hear what she had to say.
Vic, the real estate agent,
had come to look at her house on Saturday. She insisted that she liked
him, but... After looking the property over and taking notes and
measurements she said he told her he’d get back to her with a value on
it. Evidently, he’d called and she thought the amount was way too low. I
had no idea what it would be knowing only what I’d paid for my house
not quite a year earlier. When she told me... well, I knew it wouldn’t
be up around what I’d paid ($25,000) because of the condition it was in
but even I was shocked when she said $10,000 to $11,000.
To be continued...
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