Monthly Archives: July 2022

THE LETTERS

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I received a call last night. I was informed that my father had passed away. And I had a week to clean out my father’s apartment, or all his worldly belongings would be disposed of in the nearest dumpster. I knew this day was coming, but I kept putting off the unpleasant task of emptying my father’s place of whatever meager things my father had left behind.

My father and I had lost touch long ago. After my mother passed away suddenly fifteen years ago, my father just disappeared after her funeral. I never heard from him again. My parents hadn’t lived together for years. And when they did live together, every day ended with them yelling and screaming at one another. When I was a kid, I thought everyone’s family was like ours. I can’t remember a time when they were happy together. I never brought my friends over to my house. And once I became a teenager, I made it my goal in life to spend as little time at home as possible.

The day I graduated from high school, I got on a bus and never returned to my hometown. I called my mother occasionally and let her know that I was alright. But I didn’t give her my address. Since I didn’t want my father to show up at my door unexpectedly. Looking for a handout, or worse yet, drunk and angry at the world and wanting to take it out on me. Like he did when I was a kid, I was his punching bag. I never wanted to see him again.

I had difficulty locating my father when my mother died of a heart attack when she was fifty-six. Finally, I was able to get in touch with an old friend of his who still occasionally kept in touch with me. My father and I used to go to the track together to bet on the horses. And they played cards for money. My father was a gambler, and his favorite place in the world was the casinos in Atlantic City.

Anyway, the night I called him, I said, “Hello, dad, it’s me.” And he answered,”what do you want?”

“Want, I don’t want anything from you. I doubt you have a pot to piss in any way. I’m calling to let you know that Mom died on Friday; she had a heart attack. I thought you might want to know. Anyway, the funeral is being held at Brown’s Funeral Home since Mom hadn’t been to church in years. It will be at 10:30 in the morning.”

“Well, you didn’t give me much warning, did ya?’ I don’t know if I can come. I’ve got my own life to live, you know. I just can’t drop everything on a dime .”

“Dad, like I said, she died suddenly, and I had trouble finding you. Your friend, Freddy Myers, finally was able to track you down, and he gave me your phone number. It’s up to you whether you want to come or not. It doesn’t make any difference to me one way or another.” And then I slammed the phone down. And hope I will never have to see or hear that old scoundrel again as long as I live.

Anyway, he showed up at the funeral late, but not too late. He looked rough. He had a suit on that looked like he picked it up at the local thrift store. But at least he made some effort. If I had met him on the street, I might not have recognized him. He looked like he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in years and spent his time drinking night and day. It kind of made me feel bad, but he lived the life he wanted, and there was no changing the past. I walked over to him and offered him my hand to shake, and he looked down at it like it was a rattlesnake or something. I said, “Hello, dad, I’m glad you came. Why don’t you go up and say your goodbyes to Mom. You did come all this way. I wouldn’t want it to be for nothing.“

And then he turned and headed towards the casket where my mother laid. My father stood there in silence, and then he reached down and touched her hair and hand. I saw his shoulders rise and fall, and I could hear him sobbing quietly. I felt a tear slowly make its way down my cheek and fall to the ground and then another followed.

My father turned and walked slowly out of the chapel and out the front door. He never turned around and waved goodbye or anything. He just walked out of my life again, probably for the last time. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. A friend of mine came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. He held me for a moment, and then he stepped back. He looked down, and then he said, “it’s hard to lose a parent even if they weren’t the best parent. They were the only ones we ever had. Come on, why don’t you come over and say hello to some old friends from high school. It’s been a long time.”

I never heard another word from my father. I had no idea how he kept body and soul together all those years. I never married for fear that I would just repeat the mistakes my parents made. And god forbid bring children into the world to suffer the same empty, lonely childhood I had.

And the next time I heard anything about him was the night I received a call that my father had passed away, and he had left my name and address, and phone number to contact upon his death. I have no idea how he knew where I lived or how he got my phone number. In a way, I was relieved that I had heard about his passing. It gave me some peace of mind that he wouldn’t show up at my door someday. And also, I could finally put the past behind me. Anyway, I told my father’s landlord that I would be over that next day to clean out the place and take my father’s belongings away. I wasn’t looking forward to it, not at all. I was dreading it. But I knew it would finally close this unhappy chapter of my life, and I could finally move on.

The next morning I woke up at the crack of dawn. I kept obsessing about having to go to my father’s place and how it would bring all the bad memories back to haunt me. It turned out he only lived about an hour and a half away from me. When I arrived at his address, I looked up and down the street, and I thought what a terrible place for someone to live the last years of their life, all alone. There was trash up and down the street on the curb and blowing up and down from one nasty, sad place after another. There was a homeless man asleep or high or dead lying next to the door of my father’s building. I couldn’t help but wonder if my father had ever slept on the curb after he went on a bender.

I stepped around the homeless man and walked up the steps, and rang on the door to be let in. No one answered, so I tried the door, and it turned out it wasn’t locked. So, I just pulled it open and stepped inside. The smell was horrendous. There was trash up the steps, and one step had what looked like blood on it. I took a deep breath and made my way carefully up the steps to the second floor of my father’s place. The door was locked, so I had to go down the steps again and knock at the door that said, Superintendent of the building. I almost laughed aloud, thinking this dump has a superintendent. It didn’t look like anybody had cleaned this place up since the depression. I rang the bell, and a middle-aged, balding fat man answered. He said, “Yeah, what do ya want?” I told him who I was and that I was here to clean out my father’s apartment. You called me yesterday. “Oh, yeah, that’s right; here’s the key. Go ahead and bring the key back when you are done. Your father was in apartment 2 B; he lived here for a long time, never had any trouble with him.” And then he slammed the door in my face.

I made my way to the apartment. I unlocked the apartment and stuck my head into the room. I don’t know what I expected. But I was surprised to see it was clean and neat. There was an older TV, a raggedy but clean couch, and a single bed that was stripped clean of sheets and blankets. I looked into the bathroom. It was also clean and neat. I thought I must have the wrong room. My father had never been clean or neat. He had never picked up his clothes and hung them up. He had just thrown them on the floor and yelled at my mother, get in and clean up this mess. Before I make you sorry.”

I looked in the drawers, and there were some clothes all neatly folded. I looked in the closet, and there was an old suit. I think it was the same one that he wore to my mother’s funeral. There were a couple of pairs of shoes. All that had seen better days. I looked up, and I saw a wooden box. It was the nicest thing in the whole place. I took it down from the shelf and looked inside. There were old letters inside the box. And they were in my mother’s handwriting. And there were several in my father’s handwriting. I was so shocked that I almost dropped the box.

I decided to go sit on the couch and read the letters. They were addressed to my father and the dates indicated that they were written before my parents had gotten married. I was shocked. I knew nothing of my parents’ lives before they got married. I began to read the letter with the oldest postmark. It was a love letter from my mother to my father. In it, she declared how much she missed my father and how much she looked forward to being reunited with him again. And how she knew they were going to have a wonderful life together.

I was absolutely flabbergasted. My mother and father were once deeply in love? I felt tears run down my face. I looked through the letters for the last post-marked letter. It was from my father. He wrote to my mother that he had been injured and would be coming home soon because he wouldn’t be able to continue to fight any longer. Since he had suffered some severe injuries. He told her he was no longer the man he used to be, and maybe she should find someone else.

The next letter was from my mother saying that she loved him dearly and she wanted him to come home to her and she would help him recover. She would wait for him, and she didn’t want anyone else. And she ended the letter with, “I will wait for as long as it takes, and I will love you forever.” And she signed it, “all my love, I will be waiting for you for as long as it takes.”

I could hardly believe my eyes and understand the words I had just read. I know I would spend the rest of my days trying to understand what went wrong between them. And wish that they had experienced a better life together than they had. I can only imagine that my father had suffered both physically and emotionally from whatever he suffered during the war. I felt broken-hearted for the young couple they must have been and the unfortunate life they lived after his return. But in the end, I was happy to find that at one time, they had been in love and hoped to have a happy life together, but I felt sorry that it did not work out the way that it should have. That is what happens in life sometimes. Our plans for a happy and fulfilling life doesn’t always turn out as we hope it will. I held the letters next to my heart for a few minutes. I slipped the love letters back into their box, and I knew that they would forever remind me that life is short and to make the very best of it that we can. And if we find someone to love and who loves us back, we should never let it go.

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THE MASKED BANDIT

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It’s early Spring, and I’ve recently planted all the vegetables that I had started in my greenhouse outside. I can’t tell you how much I looked forward to eating freshly picked vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs.

Every morning I walk outside filled with anticipation, loving every minute of the hard work, the heat, the rain, the weeding. And watching the bees slowly buzzing over the plants and landing on the flowers that have recently bloomed. I imagine the bees are in some sort of drunken stupor from the overwhelming array of smells as they hover and land so lightly upon the plants that surround them.

I take a deep breath. I feel slightly lightheaded. Even though I have gardened almost the entirety of my adult life, I still feel the same joy I felt the first time I saw a plant growing and peeking out from the earth that was merely a tiny seed ten days before.

 The time flew by in what seemed moments, and I saw some of the watermelons growing larger by the day. I could almost taste their sweet nectar upon my lips. Every day that passed drew me closer to that moment when I could enjoy the fruits of my labor. And then the horror began.

One Saturday morning, I stepped outside on my screened-in porch, and I saw what appeared to be one of my watermelons in the middle of the yard. But how could that be? How in the world could that happen? This was the very watermelon that was so close to being ripe. It was huge. How could anything but a human being pick it up and carry it out into the middle of my yard? And then abandon it. What kind of warped individual would commit such a crime against nature, against me? Who, who would do it? I could not imagine.

 We live in a small community with only about twenty homes. And my neighbors made a practice of keeping to themselves. They rarely even pass the time of day if they see you outside in your yard. I was lucky if they even waved. After six years, I only knew the names of a few of our neighbors.

I slipped my gardening boots on and ran out into the yard in my pajamas I hadn’t even put on my gardening clothes. I was in such a shocking state of mind I forgot I hadn’t gotten dressed yet. I felt as if I was looking at the remnants of a murder committed in my own backyard.

I ran through the wet grass. It had rained heavily the night before. And looked down at my fallen watermelon. And it had huge bites taken out of it. I could not comprehend why anyone would do such a thing. It was bad enough that he or she would steal from my garden. But, to then take bites out of it and then leave it to rot in the middle of my backyard was impossible to take in. I was baffled.

I felt such anger well up in my heart in mind. I felt my temples throbbing, and my face felt flushed. The only time I felt this angry was when I was in my last year of college, and my teacher told me that my latest story was the work of a person who had no clue how to write or had any creativity. He failed me for the semester, and I had to retake the course. And then one of my classmates told me that self-same teacher just had a story published in a magazine. And it was almost an exact copy of my story word for word.

This is how angry I felt today. Someone had taken one of my creations that I worked and sweated for and destroyed it, desecrated it. I silently promised myself that I would seek revenge on whoever was responsible for this crime against nature.

When I returned back to my house, I called up my best friend Beth and told her the whole story. She listened quietly without interrupting. And then she said, “.Elizabeth, try and calm down; you’re going to have a stroke if you don’t calm down. Try to put this in perspective. It was just a watermelon. I’m sure that you planted more than one. I know how much you love gardening and look; the fruits of your hard work are like children to you. But think about it, you were going to eat it. And there will be another melon to take its place.”

“What? Just another watermelon. How can you say that? I planned my garden all winter. I spent hours and days preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watching them, and watering them. “

“You’re right, Elizabeth, but what’s done is done. You just have moved forward. Try not to let this affect you so much. Try to move forward. Maybe you could put some kind of net over the garden to prevent further damage.”

“You’re right, Beth. I will have to find a protocol to prevent this from ever happening. I will set up traps all over my yard if need be.”

“OK, don’t get carried away. You can be injuring any of your neighbors because of a watermelon, Beth.”

“Alright, I won’t harm anyone, but I will certainly put the fear of god into them if it’s the last thing I do on earth. I will make them regret the day they came into my yard, my garden, and designated it.”

“You are still sounding unhinged; go in your house, get a shower, get dressed, and eat some breakfast. Maybe your blood sugar is too low. And then call me later, maybe we could go out to dinner and a movie later. Take your mind off of the watermelon. Call me after your shower, and we’ll make plans, OK?”

I called Elizabeth later, and she wasn’t home. I left her a message and said I was calmed down and that maybe we could make plans for later in the week. I decided that I would have a surveillance system put on the exterior of my home, and I would find out who the culprit was. And when I did, I would make them regret the day they were born. The next day they arrived bright and early and set up the surveillance system. I could watch my yard anytime I wanted to, and somehow they had connected it to my cell phone, and I would be able to check out my yard 24 hours a day if need be. I was stoked.

If there were any signs of someone on my property, I would receive a message on my cell phone. For five days, there was nothing. But I remained on edge. I had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. I was confident that whoever it was would return to rob me again. And so I waited and waited for something, anything to happen.

And then, on Sunday night, as I was sleeping soundly in my bed, my cell phone went off with a high-pitched sound that woke me from the first sound sleep I had had in almost a week. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I did jump out of my bed and looked out my back bedroom window that faced my garden. I saw nothing. It was pitch dark.

So, I put on my shoes and my robe to protect myself from the mosquitoes and headed out the back door. And low and behold, I saw someone or something moving. But, it was too small to be a human. What, what could it be? And then I saw four or five smaller shapes moving behind the larger one. Good lord, what could be going on? I couldn’t fathom it. I slowly moved toward the moving shapes. Trying to be as stealthy as I could, considering my size.

As I got closer to them, I pulled my small flashlight out of my pocket and shined the light on the moving shapes. And when I did that, I saw one large and five sets of smaller eyes glowing red in the dark night. The larger of the group stood up on his hind back legs, and low and behold. I saw before me a Raccoon. The largest one I’ve ever seen. Behind her were five smaller versions of her, baby raccoons.

They looked eerie in the flashlight, and as soon as they saw me, the mother raccoon made a weird squealing noise, and they all took off like bats out of hell towards the back fence. And off they went. If they ever returned, I saw little evidence of it. Every once in a while, there would be some missing vegetable but never a watermelon again. I decided I was willing to part with the odd vegetable or so. She did have a family to feed, after all.

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TIME GOES BY MAKE THE MOST OF IT

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TIME GOES BY MAKE THE MOST OF IT

We’ve been planning the fishing trip since last Fall. I was really excited about it. Believe it or not, I’ve never fished before. And I was looking forward to a new experience. I don’t eat fish which makes it even weirder I guess.

But the fact is I haven’t had a vacation in years and god knows I need one. I’m worn out from the daily grind and the long train ride into the city every day. The noise, the crowds, the non-stop pressure every day.

 I haven’t seen my friend Mildred in years. Actually, now that I think about it I haven’t seen her since the year we graduated from college. We both attended Temple University. I majored in Art Education and she was an Art History major. She has been asking me for years to go camping and fishing with her. She spent every summer of her childhood living in a cabin out in the woods and fishing and swimming. In fact, in college, she swam competitively. Why she’s practically a fish herself.

I’ve never been much of an outdoorsman or should I say outdoor’s woman. In fact, I wasn’t even a girl scout. I never slept outside or swam in a lake or fished. Never cooked hotdogs on an open fire or sang campfire songs with my friends. I spent most of my childhood sitting in front of the TV. My idea of an outdoor experience was walking downtown and buying a Slurpee or a donut at the bakery. I guess you could say I was somewhat of a sedentary kid.

Anyway, here I am in the middle years of my life and I received a call from my college friend, Mildred out of the blue. As soon as I picked up the phone and she said, “hey, Leona long time, no see, no talk. I am planning on going camping for a week and I would just love it if you came along. Just you and I like old times. What do you say?”

“Mildred, I can’t believe it’s you. The weirdest thing is that I’ve been thinking about you for the past few months. I don’t know why I didn’t just pick up the phone and call you. I can’t believe almost thirty years have gone by since we graduated from college. And that we are both fifty years old.

“Yeah, that’s kind of a bitter pill to swallow, getting old and looking older. But, hey I’ve still got a lot of life left in me. So, I was sitting here thinking about what can I do to celebrate the years I have left and stop mourning the youth I’ve left behind me. And that’s when I thought about you and all the fun we had together in college and what a blast we could have taken a trip together doing something we’ve never done together before. What do you think? Are you up for it?”

“Yes, I’m up for it, absolutely. Where did you have in mind, Mildred?”

“A great camping location, Nockanmixon State Park. There is swimming, hiking, biking, and fishing and they have affordable cabins to rent there. I haven’t been there since I was a kid but I loved it so much we used to go almost every year.

“Really, that does sound great. I’m afraid I’m a little out of shape so you’ll have to take it easy on me at first. When do you want to go? I’ll have to give my employers at least a couple of weeks of notice. But it shouldn’t be a problem since I haven’t taken a vacation in years. I guess I’m a bit of a workaholic and overachiever.”

“Well, I look forward to catching up. So, let’s make plans for the first week of June. It won’t be too hot, or too wet. And it shouldn’t be crowded that early in the season. How about giving me a call after you talk to your employer.”

“Wow, I’m really getting excited. I’ll call you as soon as I talk to my boss.”

“Great I look forward to hearing from you soon. And then I’ll make the reservations. Remember to bring hiking boots, make sure you break them in before you arrive, and comfortable clothes and warm pajamas because the nights there can be quite chilly in June. And you might want to bring a sleeping bag. There’s a small grocery store not too far from the camp so after we meet up, we’ll go get food and anything else we might need. I hope I’ll hear from you soon. “

“Well, Mildred hearing from you has really lifted my spirits. I was feeling like I was in a rut. This is going to be great. I’ll call you as soon as I arrange the time off. Bye for now.” And that’s when I heard her hang up and I remembered that Mildred hated saying goodbye. I wondered if she was still the same old Mildred I knew in college or if she had settled into her middle years. I hope she was the still wild, funny, and intelligent Mildred I knew so long ago. My heart was beating so fast, I haven’t had anything to look forward to in so long. I couldn’t wait.

But before I knew it the weeks flew by and it was the day before I left to go on the camping trip with Mildred. I wondered if I would even recognize her. I checked and rechecked everything in my bag and in the trunk. I had purchased hiking boots and I had worn them almost nonstop since I bought them even to work. Every day one of my fellow workers made fun of me because I was wearing hiking boots with work clothes. But I just ignored them. I knew, in the end, I would appreciate breaking them in so my feet wouldn’t be killing me the whole time we were camping and hiking.

Six and a half hours later I arrived at the entrance of the Nockanmixon State Park. I called Mildred a half hour ago and told her when I would be arriving. I pulled into a parking spot out front. and I could see a middle-aged woman frantically waving at me. I waved back. I hoped it was Mildred but it was hard to believe because the woman I was waving at hair was completely white. The closer I got to her the more I saw the resemblance to my old friend. Albeit a bit older looking, but no doubt the same in every other way I hoped.

I opened up the gate and Mildred came running over to me and gave me the biggest, tightest hug I’ve had in ten years. And then she stepped back and looked me up and down and said,” I would have recognized you anywhere. A little older, but wiser no doubt. I’m so glad you were able to come and spend the week with me. You can not imagine how much I’ve been looking forward to this trip.”

“Well, Mildred I could say the same of you except for that beautiful white hair. Only you would be improved by aging. You look fabulous.”

“You are a sight for sore eyes, Leona, a sight for sore eyes. I have thought of you so many times over the years. I wish I had called you before. But we’re here now and that’s all that matters. Well, let me direct you to our cabin. It’s just a short walk from here. Why don’t you grab your stuff and bring it with you? After we spend some time getting reacquainted we’ll take a short drive to the store and buy whatever we need.

Mildred kept a running commentary while we hiked up to the cabin which turned out to be a little further than I anticipated. And I was a little out of breath when I arrived. I guess I was a bit out of shape since I got very little exercise at my job unless you call rolling around on my chair in my office adequate exercise. I was silently getting anxious about all the hiking we would be doing.

“Leona, you’re awfully quiet. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright. It was just a long drive and I had trouble falling asleep last night since I was so excited about coming here. I guess I’m a little out of breath too.”

“Oh, well we’ll take it easy the first couple of days until you get your sea legs so to speak. And then we’ll take some more difficult trails. This is going to be so much fun. “

By the time I saw the little cabin come into view I was completely winded and sweating. I had never been so happy in my life as the moment that cabin came into view. I said out loud, ” thank you, dear god, we finally arrived.”

Mildred took a look at me and laughed. “We here now so you can take a rest. I also packed us a little lunch and brought some drinks with me in the cooler. And then maybe we’ll bring our stuff into the cabin while we’re at it. “

“Ok, sure we should bring our stuff in now, eat and take a little nap, I’ll be a new woman by then and we can then go to the little store and pick up some groceries. It’s all good I’ll be fine by then.” And then we began lugging all our stuff into the cabin. “Excuse me, I have to make a quick stop at the lady’s room.” When I came out Mildred had everything organized and was still brimming with energy. Alrighty then, why don’t you take a little nap, and I’ll take a little hike and get the lay of the land. What do you say?”

“I say, sounds like a plan. I’ll take a little nap and you go check things out. Be careful and don’t go too far. I’ll see you in a little bit. I’m sure I will be feeling fine by then. I turned and walked into the door on the right and laid down on a twin-size bed with my feet hanging over the edge. And I fell immediately into a deep sleep. When I woke up I had brain fog which happens every time I take a nap in the middle of the day.

When I woke up I didn’t recognize where I was right away. And then I remembered I was out in the middle of the woods with my old college roommate, Mildred. I thought it would do me good to go into the bathroom and throw water on my face. And then I went back out of the main room and looked around. It wasn’t a huge space but it was clean and neat. It looked like the couch was comfortable. The kitchen was small but well-equipped as advertised. Nothing in the fridge box of baking soda.

I called out to Mildred but she didn’t answer, so I walked over to the door and looked out. And there she was in all her glory. And believe it or not, she was chopping wood with an ax. I couldn’t have lifted up that ax and swung that ax if my life depended upon it. I said, “Good Lord” out loud. and Mildred says, “well, hi roomie. I’m glad you’re up and about. As soon as I clean up a bit we can take a ride to the little store I told you about. What do you say?”

“I say, all right, let’s be on our way shall we?”

“Yes, let’s and while we’re driving there we can catch up.”

We made our way over to Mildred’s car and hopped in. Well, I didn’t hop in, it was more like I flopped in. About twenty minutes later Mildred pulled into a parking spot in front of the smallest food store I’ve ever seen. But, I had quite a surprise when upon opening the door I saw shelves and shelves of any kind of food you would ever need or want. And the store owner called out,” we just got some fresh deer meat in this very morning.”

Mildred said, ” this is our lucky day Leona.”

“Sorry, Mildred, I have been a vegetarian for the past twenty-five years. I’ll stick with vegetables and grains and beans.”

“You’re kidding? Why do you used to eat more hamburgers than the whole dorm put together? And now you don’t eat meat, Leona?”

“Yes, that’s right, no meat, no eggs, no cheese, no milk, or any mild product.”

“Well, I would have thought you would be in better shape than.” And then she let out a big guffaw.

“Yeah, thanks, Mildred. I think I’ll take a look around at what’s available that I can eat.”

“Alright, Mildred. I’m going to order a pound of that deer meat. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Yes, Mildred I do. I ate meat for years.”

About fifteen minutes later. we were ready to check out. We split the bill and were on our way. In about twenty minutes we were back at the cabin. We brought all the groceries in and put them away. And Mildred made some ice tea and handed me a glass. And we both took a long drink and I thought now what?”

“So, Leona how about filling me in on what you have been doing all these years. Any husband in sight, kids?”

“Well, I got close a couple of times, but it just never happened. I can’t say I have any regrets I was never one of those women that wanted to have a husband and a house full of kids. I have a successful career and am about to become a partner in the firm I work for. I bought a townhouse about sixteen years ago and I’m quite content with my job and home. I have a lot of friends at work and we go out a couple of times a month for dinner. I have taken two cruises, one to Europe and one to South America. How about you?”

” Well, I was married for a couple of years, but it didn’t work out. He was something of a control freak and I have a tendency to be something of a loose cannon at times. Since I get an idea and my head and can’t stop until I do what I want to do. He didn’t like that and after a while, he started looking for someone else I found out about it and filed for divorce. He has since married again and has three kids and his wife doesn’t work. She’s a stay-at-home mom. Which is fine but not for me. I travel all the time with my job and am hardly home. I love my job it is challenging and I am in line to get a big promotion this year. to vice-president.”

Well, it seems like Mildred that we do have some things in common. And that we are both content in the lives that we have built for ourselves. And I’m happy to hear that. 

“Me, too Leona, me too. We’re a couple of career women. But, let me tell you I think we both like to have some fun too. And that is what we’re going to be doing this week. We are going to swim, hike, fish, well, maybe you won’t want to fish but you can just relax and rest up for all the hiking we’re going to be doing. Are you up for a little hike today or would you like to wait until tomorrow?”

“Well, Mildred I vote for taking it easy the rest of the day and maybe reminiscing about our college days. What do you say?”

“I say, let’s. I was just thinking about Liz Beaumont a couple of months ago. And then the weirdest thing happened I ran into her. At Target no less. She and I were standing in line for prescriptions and she was in line in front of me and I was talking to the person behind me. And she heard my voice and turned around and yelled at the top of her voice, ” Is that Leona Peppard I hear? And I said, “Yes, it is.” And she came over to me and practically hugged me to death. Remember those hugs she gave us?”

“Oh yeah, I do. I swear one time she hugged me so hard she broke one of my ribs. God, what a character she was.”

“Anyway, after we got our prescriptions we decided to go have lunch together and we talked and talked for hours. Turns out she is involved in politics and is running for office. And she asked me to come and volunteer for her. And so, I’ve been doing that. It turns out that we are both Progressives and she has some of the same goals as I do. “

“Wow, you just never know what will happen to people. Do you remember Joey Santoni? I ran into him at a local bar. And guess what he was the bouncer? Can you believe it? He was athletic but I thought he was going to have a career in football. “

“You’re right, Leona. I never did get around to asking him what happened. But, he’s a nice gun. But, maybe he took too many blows to the head.”

“Well, you never know what’s going to happen in anyone’s life. I did hear that Marilyn Curtis was killed in a car accident on the interstate highway in Pa. a few years ago. You’re right you just don’t know what can happen at any given time. Life is short we should enjoy it while we can. Let’s talk about what we want to do this week, shall we?”

And they spent the next week, hiking, swimming, getting sunburned, and eating good food. They decided that they should get together for a week every year and take a vacation to a different exotic location. Next year they were going to go on a photographic safari to Africa since during their conversations they both talked about their love of photography. Their camping trip was a complete success and they both agree to get together after all these years was the best decision they have ever made.

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