Kansas City was as beautiful in the spring as it was in the fall when all of the leaves turned gorgeous colors and winter with all the snow. One interesting fact about Kansas City that a lot of people do not realize is that there are actually two cities in two states separated by a street named Sate Line Road. Living on one side of the road makes you a resident of Kansas, the other side puts you in Missouri.
I can remember how pleased I was when Dennis got transferred to Kansas City as there was never a happier person than I to be leaving Dallas, Texas. It is difficult to explain why with all of the normal horrors of moving, the month living in a motel, the seemingly endless string of disappointments and conflicts why I was always so happy to be there. Maybe it was gaining a little maturity, the great neighborhood and the friends I made or the surprise opportunities that seemed to come my way. Maybe Barney was also a reason.
I arrived at the fountain at the Country Club Plaza before he did. It had been almost a month since our last lunch date and although we had talked on the phone while he was travelling I did miss seeing him. I heard the familiar "Hey" behind me and he had pulled up alongside the curb in his car and told me to hop in that we were going on a picnic. As we drove to a park I asked him how the seminars and the book were doing. Everything went well but he thought it was too much all at one time. He was tired and really glad to be home.
When we arrived at the park Barney opened the trunk and to my surprise there was a real picnic basket, a checked table cloth and a blanket. I didn't know there was a Deli in town that specialized in doing picnic lunches. What a great idea! All you had to do was to order them, pick everything up and return it when you were done. Over lunch we laughed and joked about silly things while I was wondering about his comment on the phone pertaining to serious sounding stuff we needed to discuss. The picnic thing was no doubt an opportunity to really talk as we had done in college.
He finally got around to asking me why I had not said anything about my medical school applications and that he knew it was past the time for me to have heard something. Actually I had avoided the subject with everyone as I felt really stupid for even thinking I could be accepted. I made all sorts of excuses to myself about the application showing I had gone to four colleges, had three different majors, married, two small children and a lot older than other applicants. When he asked me it was like the dam burst and I poured out all the feeling of rejection, all the excuses I made to myself, even Dennis's reaction and a lot of tears.
He took me in his arms and said how sorry he was but that he didn't know me to give up on anything except him twelve years ago. Also that I should have told him first about the letters before I told anyone else since most people don't get into medical or law school on their first try.
Did the letters say anything about making an appointment with the admissions office to see why you were not accepted? I said I didn't remember as I could not get past the first paragraph. That got a laugh and the suggestion that I look at them again and call to make an appointment and see what their reasoning was. Then I needed to give him the application so he could see if we could make it sound better.
While I was basking in the thought that somebody cared and was willing to help me in what I wanted to do Barney came out with the question of "How about lunch at my house next Thursday?". That was a surprise and my quick answer was that Mother was arriving for a visit, hopefully a short one, on Wednesday. So would Tuesday be okay? There were a lot of reasons I should have said no, like what about his wife, Lauren, but I said okay. Perhaps I had a "deer in the headlights" look as he started laughing and said he needed some interior design advice on his house. Lauren was deep into law books and really had no desire to do anything to the house. We decided 10:30 on Tuesday would be good after I dropped Wally at the church for the day.
Needless to say the next four days were busy ones. The boys needed haircuts and I needed running shoes before Mother showed up. Then there was the matter of immaculizing (new word) the house before she arrived and checked all the woodwork for dust. Maybe this trip she would not spend her first day there cleaning the house, making sure all the laundry was done or planning all the meals for however many days she was staying all the while making me feel like a terrible person. Oh, that meant a trip to the grocery store for healthy food.
The letters from both medical schools did make reference to calling for an appointment. As much as I dreaded doing it I knew I had to by Tuesday. The thought of Tuesday itself was a little scary in that it is one
thing to decorate your own house but a whole different thing to know what other people like or want.
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