LIFE GOES ON… and on… (Part 171g)
As it turned out, I never did
make it to the ‘meet and greet’. As a vestryman I was expected to pass
the offering plate which, when I attended the 10am service, I did. The
counting of the money was done after the service by the treasurer but,
on this Sunday, she wasn’t there. Me, being a banker, was asked to do
it. While Elle and the kids went down to the meet and greet I ended up
in the minister’s office with the cash and pledge envelopes in the
offering plates. I had faint hope of getting it done quickly but, the
most onerous part of doing the job was recording the amounts on the
pledge envelopes onto a ledger card and that took time. I was only
starting to count the cash when the other “Elle” walked in. She asked to
see the minister but he was still down in the undercroft with the
parishioners. She was still wearing her coat but it was open and I could
see she had on a skirt that fell above her knees. I told her where he
was but she said she’d wait for him. That was OK by me and she took a
seat on a folding chair against the wall. It was not a good place for me
to have a chance at an upskirt so I concentrated on figuring a way to
reposition myself that wasn’t too obvious. But it wasn’t something
planned that gave me the chance. I’d been stacking quarters in piles of
four to make it easier to count dollars. When I dumped the second
offering plate on the table a couple of envelopes made their way to my
piles and knocked a couple of them over and some quarters fell to the
floor. I had two choices… go around the table or to go under it to pick
them up. It took only a split second for me to duck under the table. If
I’d been scripting the scene I couldn’t have done it better. Startled by
the sounds of coins hitting the floor the woman leaned forward in her
chair to see what had fallen. When she did she opened up her knees to
get closer to the floor. I could’ve used a little more light but just
the sight of light colored material right between her legs was enough to
please me. When I saw it my head was under the table. It was a reaction
when I lifted it to get a better view and I hit my head. I couldn’t see
her face but I heard her ask if I was OK. I was but my peeking was now
over.
The reason she was not in North Carolina was that after the
Easter service her mother had fallen. If you remember, it had snowed.
As the woman explained to the minister they hadn’t shoveled the driveway
and upon their return to the mother's home she’d slipped while exiting
the car. Her mother had insisted that she was OK and insisted that the
daughter return to her home. She did but got a call midweek that her
mother was in the hospital. A neighbor hadn’t seen her for a few days
and came over to the house to find her lying on the floor. She’d broken
her hip and ended up in the hospital. The daughter had returned to bring
her to her home and she was there in the office to ask the minister to
stop in to see her to help raise her spirits.
If we hadn’t worked
together setting up for Easter I’m sure she wouldn’t have been so open
about the situation with her mother. I got the feeling she felt
comfortable talking with me. What I was interested in was to find out
where her mother lived so asked. Not really knowing the area she didn’t
know any of the street names other than the one her mother lived on and
it was one that I was unfamiliar with. We chatted a bit before the
minister finally showed up. One thing I gleaned from it was that her
mother loved to play cards with bridge being her favorite. Elle’s mother
was a bridge fanatic, playing three of four afternoons a week when not
looking after Kaye, our youngest, when Elle was called in to teach.
Wanting to get back with Elle and the kids I excused myself but took the
time to ask the minister if he was familiar with the street name. I
remember him shrugging his shoulders. It was a bit of a mystery. On the
way home I told Elle of the older woman’s misfortune and told her about
her liking to play bridge. She proceeded to ask where she lived and I
remember laughing… and then telling her about the ‘mystery’ street. She
laughed too… but told me to try and find out just where it was so she
could tell her mother.
After lunch I started in on painting a
sign for the local country club. I should’ve been working on it but
didn’t have the ambition to start. Now, with the prospect of Elle being
pregnant, extra money (and all cash) was the impetus. It was their
‘rules’ sign located right before the first tee. It was a big sign, not
only in size (6’ by 8’) but with what had to painted on it. When
finished it would be the biggest payday I’d had since starting to paint
signs. During the Winter we’d limited the amount of time the kids spent
outside relegating them to the basement to play. Now, with this big sign
and the need for space, they were sent outside to play. About mid
afternoon I took a break and went upstairs to the kitchen. Elle was on
the phone and when she hung up I asked who it was. I remember her
smiling when she told me it was Paula and she was at Elle’s mother’s
house. She added that Paula was becoming her “shadow”. When she’d been
at the house the last time she’d told us that she’d be going home to her
parent’s house after classes on Fridays and then returning on Monday
mornings. Here it was, Sunday afternoon and she was back. I was about to
ask why when Elle said that she’d be stopping by… and asking if she
could invite her for supper. I told her it wouldn’t bother me, that she
was the cook and if it didn’t bother her, then why not?
Kaye had
been playing with her Chatty Cathy doll that she’d gotten for her
birthday but she’d stopped talking. Battery operated, Kaye didn’t
understand the importance of turning the switch off when she was
finished. Before returning to my sign job, I took the doll apart and
while doing it Paula arrived. I remember her getting a kick out of
seeing me with the doll. I looked up at her, blushing, but had nothing
to say. She had a brown paper bag in her hands and I heard her tell Elle
that it was for her. I went back to working on the doll at that point
as Elle and Paula went into the living room. Once Chatty was back to
talking I returned to the basement and stayed until Elle called down
that supper was on the table.
I had to wash up and chose the
kitchen sink to do it. I saw the same paper bag that Paula had brought
for Elle now sitting on the end of the counter as I walked by. All I did
was to note it in my mind but didn’t say anything. Paula had to repeat
what she’d told Elle when I asked what had brought her out a day earlier
than expected. She was obviously comfortable around us now because she,
willingly, explained it, again, for me. Basically, she’d been unsure
how her stay at Elle’s mother’s house would go on her first week there
and had just packed a suitcase with clothes she thought she'd need.
Then, after the little misunderstanding with Elle’s mother and Elle’s
subsequent involvement with clearing it up, she decided that she could
bring more of her clothes and “move in”. She chose to bring them that
day and to get them organized with plenty of time and no pressure. I had
to ask how her relationship with Elle’s mother was progressing. I
remember her answer… “It’s warming up…”.
To be continued…
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