Aunt Jane was seated at a small table near the back of the dining area. Lighting was so dim that at first I couldn't spot her. It was disappointing to see she was alone. I slipped into a seat across from her.
"Jane, you look terrific. That is, as much as I can see in this light!" Jane preffered I not call her Aunt, or Great Aunt. My mother and her friends had already used up "aunt" and she said she really didn't feel old enough to hear "Great Aunt". She was my only aunt and second-mother figure. She was Lotti's identical twin. They had a peculiar bond between them that went beyond time and space. At one time they must have looked just alike, but the years had been kinder to Jane than to Lottie.
"Carrie, sweetie, you look stunning! Is that a new dress?" Actually, Jane was the stylish one. I was always fashionably late, so to speak.
"It's a bithday present to myself...today seemed a great excuse to indulge."
The waiter wasted no time in visiting our table. We both ordered ice tea and absorbed ourselves with the menu.
Jane broke the silence. "Carrie, have you heard anything from Art lately?" Just hearing his name made my stomach queasy. Not that we parted enemies, but it was difficult. Art had decided to go to seminary in Dallas this year. It was a surprise that took me off balance. He had been a pre-law major. His senoir year we had gotten very 'serious'. Then, his last semester he said he felt 'called'. It was a concept that made no sense to me. Sure, I beleived in God, but there were limits to what that involved. To me that didn't include God planning my life for me! That threw a ringer, and not a ring, into our relationship. We decided to 'just be friends'- which meant things had gone from hot to cold quickly.
"Art is supposedly starting seminary in Dallas, but I haven't heard from him since he moved. He's probably very busy." I tried to keep my voice nonchalant-but, who was I kidding??
Just then a very attractive woman in a light fall suit stopped at our table. Jane quealed with delight and jumped to her feet. After a quick hug they both sat down.
"Oh, Aunt Jane, you look wonderful! I don't think you've aged at all!" our newcomer drawled. She was deeply tanned with short dark hair similar to how Jackie Kennedy wore hers these days of 1962. It was what they called a bubble-cut. Her dark eyes were very attention getting and probably her best feature. If she was Jane's surprise-she certainly was one!
"Oh, Kelly,you are just as sweet and lovely as every!"
Their attention soon turned to me.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Chapter One-"Dreaming, I'm always dreaming..."
Big, fluffy clouds rolled across a blue sky above a luscious green field. A child's giggles filled the air. A woman with long, golden brown curls was tickling the child. Every time she bent to tickle the girl, her curls bounced against the girl's arms.
The alarm startled me awake and for a moment I forgot what I was dreaming. Slowly a homesick type feeling filled my stomach as the recognition of the 'the dream' came. How many times I'd had this one I couldn't say. It was the same one that occurred every time I had encountered a major change or challenge.
Was the woman my mother? Pherhaps...who could say?! My mother had died before my third birthday, so my memories of her, if they did exist, were very faint. My grandparents, Lottie and Lester Law, had raised me. Mamma Lottie Law refused to talk of my mother. In fact, it upset her to hear Mildred's name. Therefore, no one talked about my mother.
Ugh: the name Mildred was so rigid sounding! Her nickname, Millie, fit the image I had of my mother much better. Of the little information I could learn, Mille was fun-loving, soft and loved to learn. She was soft, but not weak. No, she was quite strong, in character and will, if not body.
The floor felt cold beneath my bare feet. I stumbled to the alam to shut it off. For the life of me, I couldn't remember why I had set it for a Saturday.
Then it hit me. My Great-Aunt Jane was taking me to the most exclusive restaurant in town for lunch. It was to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. She also wanted me to meet, as she put it, a very special person. She didn't say it, but secretly I assumed and hoped this person was male.
In any event, it would be fun to shop a little before lunch, a birthday present for myself. It would be something simple enough to be elegant without being 'showy'. Besides, there really wasn't anything appropirate for the Carlton in my closet.
By the time I was adding a gold pair of earrings to top off the simple white dress I had gotten on clearance, Jane was calling to say she'd meet me at the restaurant rather than pick me up. I was used to changing plans where Jane was concerned. Jane was a reporter for the Middleton Chronicle. Her job often warranted our plans being flexible. In fact, Jane was the inspiration for my choice of journalism/history major at State U, where I was a senior.
The alarm startled me awake and for a moment I forgot what I was dreaming. Slowly a homesick type feeling filled my stomach as the recognition of the 'the dream' came. How many times I'd had this one I couldn't say. It was the same one that occurred every time I had encountered a major change or challenge.
Was the woman my mother? Pherhaps...who could say?! My mother had died before my third birthday, so my memories of her, if they did exist, were very faint. My grandparents, Lottie and Lester Law, had raised me. Mamma Lottie Law refused to talk of my mother. In fact, it upset her to hear Mildred's name. Therefore, no one talked about my mother.
Ugh: the name Mildred was so rigid sounding! Her nickname, Millie, fit the image I had of my mother much better. Of the little information I could learn, Mille was fun-loving, soft and loved to learn. She was soft, but not weak. No, she was quite strong, in character and will, if not body.
The floor felt cold beneath my bare feet. I stumbled to the alam to shut it off. For the life of me, I couldn't remember why I had set it for a Saturday.
Then it hit me. My Great-Aunt Jane was taking me to the most exclusive restaurant in town for lunch. It was to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. She also wanted me to meet, as she put it, a very special person. She didn't say it, but secretly I assumed and hoped this person was male.
In any event, it would be fun to shop a little before lunch, a birthday present for myself. It would be something simple enough to be elegant without being 'showy'. Besides, there really wasn't anything appropirate for the Carlton in my closet.
By the time I was adding a gold pair of earrings to top off the simple white dress I had gotten on clearance, Jane was calling to say she'd meet me at the restaurant rather than pick me up. I was used to changing plans where Jane was concerned. Jane was a reporter for the Middleton Chronicle. Her job often warranted our plans being flexible. In fact, Jane was the inspiration for my choice of journalism/history major at State U, where I was a senior.
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