LOVE!

Longtime neighbors invited my mom, dad, sister and me to their home on my last night as a person whose family lived in Mahopac, NY. They kept Lindsay’s glass and mine filled with homemade chocolate milkshake while they popped beers for my Dad and replenished the Merlot in my mom’s wineglass. The neighbors asked and asked and asked us all questions then they listened to our answers. Three children tried to sit on me at once and a smile washed my eyes in tears . While sticking a finger in Wendy’s (one of the three) armpit, I tried to secure the warmth of the Wallis’ home in my memory so I could give it to others later and because I would miss them all ferociously.

Yesterday, my great aunt Cosi wrote a note the length and width of the paper towel she’d used as paper. It began, “Hello Yung'uns!” and ended with a drawn heart. Zippered into a vibrant cloth bag next to the note, a scarf waited for me to find it. It was a thank you scarf in a thank you bag. Strong threads of green, blue and indigo will soon decorate my shoulders or dash color around my hips when I wear a black dress. I’ve already planned the scarf's participation in many future outfits.

Cosi knocked on the door after her first day of Philadelphia travel and entered with sunflowers. I was modeling the scarf and saying thank you and she stood under her bag straps with full hands while I held nothing but my present. I didn’t take the flowers, thinking they couldn’t be another gift for us; but of course they were and of course they needed water. Cosi set down her bags and, with her fingers, wrestled the rubber bands binding the flowers and the tape closing the paper and the paper covering the flowers and I watched without helping which makes me disappointed in myself when I think of it.

Last night, we all ate different shrimp dishes at Vietnam. Cosi reflected on the primal comfort of being sheltered in someone’s home. She thanked Sean and me for what she compared to stopping on a journey and having one’s feet washed and swathed in ointments. We feel thankful for free dinners and the songs in her voice.

To be worthy of these presents, flowers, dinners, and her! I'll continue to offer berries and bread thick with nuts and seeds in the morning. I'll ask questions about her Philadelphia days upon returning home from work, listen to her answers, give her an extra blanket at night when the air conditioner blows a chill draft in her direction, make Sean wear shorts to bed instead the usual boxer-briefs so she doesn’t catch any cracks or morsels through the open door and I'll try to create a warmth strong enough to secure a memory.