From the time I was about twelve years old I had always been fascinated by old buildings and houses. My family had one of those two bedroom tract homes built after the second world war in Muskogee. But I loved driving through the older part of town and looking at the huge old homes and imagining being lucky enough to live there.
It did not help when my parents actually thought about buying an old house referred to as the "Bower" house. Sitting on a huge corner lot the two story house with a portico, huge trees and a four car garage with servants quarters above was a dream come true. Inside it had a two tiered mahogany staircase and I could imagine at the age of twelve how cool it would be to dance down the stairs with a date waiting at the bottom. With a curved music room, beautiful woodwork and very tall ceilings I didn't pay any attention the the peeling wallpaper from a leaky roof or the fact that the kitchen was circa 1930. I saw it all restored and beautiful but my parents saw more work than they could do so they opted for the new house in a new subdivision.
I spent a lot of time in Kansas City driving through the magnificent old neighborhoods and hanging out at the Country Club Plaza which was the first suburban shopping center built in the 1920's. When Barney said to meet him at Kelly's Bar built in 1850 and that it was believed to be the oldest building in Kansas City I could not get there fast enough.
Kelly's was was originally a store that sold provisions to those travelling west along the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. It was even once owned by Daniel Boone's grandson. In 1947 it began serving provisions of the alcoholic variety and has done so to this very day.
Barney was waiting on the sidewalk for me because even at lunch time it was difficult to get in the door for all the people and we would have never found each other inside. We finally got a table and had lunch but there was so much laughter and conversations from other people it was difficult to talk to each other with out yelling. I just ate and studied every inch of the wood, the bar, all the people and decided it was one of the coolest places I had ever been.
After lunch we walked around Westport and looked at some of the shops before we found a bench to sit on. Time for me to find out what serious thing he needed to talk to me about. He started out by telling me how I had done a great job in putting all the paper, paint and window coverings together for his house. Actually that was pretty easy since he told me what he thought he wanted and I knew him well enough to make the right choices. I began to wonder if he was firing me. Then he apologized for for putting me in the position of meeting Lauren but that I had done an amazing job of handling the situation.
Hmm....this was sounding a little serious and it took me a few minutes to respond. Finally I told him that it was not the easiest thing I had ever done but I knew that when I agreed to do his house that I would meet her and I thought I had handled it pretty well myself. Then he gave me the opportunity to back out of redoing the house since there would be times when he was out of town and I would have to see more of her. Looking really sad he said he wished I had popped back into his life before he married her.
In all the time we had spent together in the last ten months we had never talked about either Lauren or Dennis except very casually. Lamenting about our problems with them I never thought would be a good thing and I didn't think it was time to start now. Barney sat there waiting for a response from me as I tried to figure out what to say. I guess I had known that this discussion would come up but it was not one I was ever going to be fully prepared to enter into.
Finally I told him that maybe it would be more difficult to see and work with Lauren if we were making mad passionate love to each other like we had done in college. Which was a sixties morality lapse on my part. Our situation is a little complicated with other people that depend on us and maybe by keeping our relationship more like friends I can deal easier with anything that comes up. If we were both happy in our marriages I would probably never have called him when I came to Kansas City and he would have never agreed to meet me that first time. Maybe we both made a mistake thirteen years ago by drifting apart or letting go of each other back then for silly reasons. The only time I have ever been mad at him was when he sent me the telegram on the day I got married wishing me the best and professing his love. But being friends, if you can call it that, is the happiest I have been in all these years.
Who knows what will happen between us next month or next year but I can't imagine him not being there. The sound of his voice when he calls, knowing I will meet him somewhere or thinking about something funny he said brightens day and not only makes me feel good but also gets me through any bad things that happen. I may not have lost my early sixties morality but I do have my "big girl" shoes on and I can handle being with and working with Lauren.
Barney sat there for what seemed like a long time. Then he smiled that smile and said that was quite a speech and maybe we thought more alike than he imagined we did. Too bad it was nearly time for me to pick up Wally as he wanted to whisk me off to a hotel. I laughed and told him that I didn't always do what I really wanted to do. He walked me to my car and gave me a key to his house so I could get in if no one was home. Driving to get Wally I had to laugh because it was Barney who needed to talk and I ended up doing all the talking.
Dennis's mom, Alpha, was driving up from Warner, Oklahoma the next day. She was very good at taking care of the boys. It seemed like every time we had a Ford Motor Company trip we had to go on she took charge. I liked her a lot and we had always had a lot of fun together shopping, playing cards or her favorite, working jigsaw puzzles. The boys adored her but she was also pretty good at keeping them in line. Very much different than my mom as she never babysat and I didn't think she even liked them around for more than ten minutes.
It looked like her visit was going to work out well and I scheduled working at Barney's three days the first week so I still had time to be do things with Alpha and the boys. Of course just as I begin to think everything is going to work out well something happens. Wonder what a dull moment would feel like?
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