Wednesday, September 4, 2019

The Good, The Better and The Worst


Cathie




It was a good thing the twenty inches of snow melted before the next weekend arrived.  Riverton Home and School Association had managed to raise two thousand dollars for a tire playground for the kids.  In stead of a few old swings they were going to get a playground full of fun things to play on and this particular Saturday it was to be installed.

A gentleman from upstate New York created the designs, brought the used tires of all sizes and helped put everything together.  Before hand we had to make sand beds eight inches deep for each structure to be built on and purchase all the nuts, bolts, rope and chains for the installation. Even though it was a grey, cold windy day about half the parents in the school showed up to help, each bringing something to add to the hot dogs and hot chocolate we had planned for lunch.  By late afternoon the kids had a fantastic new play ground where they could climb, swing and hang upside down.

Even with my job at the Library, Physics and the Kaplan course we found a couple of times before spring to take the kids skiing for the day in the Poconos.  Somehow I had gotten over the Disatermoon - new word to describe the worst honeymoon ever which was a skiing trip - and gotten quite confident on the slopes.  The kids took to it like ducks to water, Wes flying down backwards and jumping over berms while Wally was the most determined little guy out there. Half the time I never knew where they were until they showed up at the ski lift.

The Kaplan course was interesting.  Basically it was a cram course for Medical School Entrance Test or MCAT.  It met on Thursday night in an office building in downtown Philadelphia.  I surprised at how much I really did remember of Biology, Chemistry and what I had already learned about Physics.  The class was actually very good and had a lot of aspiring and positive students in it.  Maybe all I really needed was a good dose of positive thinking and self confidence before I would take the test again in May.

Then Cathie popped up one my porch one Tuesday afternoon. She popped up quite often through the years, always unannounced but always a welcome sight.  Cathie was my college roommate at Stephens
and there was no one who was more fun.  I wrote write a bit about her and our days at Stephens in other stories.  She was without a doubt one of a kind.

After returning to the states from living in some sort of commune in India she was residing at the Himalayan Institute in the Pocono Mountains.  She was studying yoga and meditation and stayed long enough to actually become an instructor.  She wanted a few days off so onto my porch she appeared. I don't know if Wes or I was the happiest one to see her.  Wes had been in love with Cathie since he was five years old and swore back then her was going to grow up and marry her.
He instantly gave up his room and told her she could stay as long as she wanted.  Dennis was not too happy to see her.

She hung out with at the Library and went to Physics class with me the next day but when Wes was getting out of school she went and picked him up and whisked him off the the drugstore in Palmyra for cherry cokes and M&M's so he instantly became the talk of the school due to the beautiful blonde who was not a relative picking him up.  At thirteen it was a big deal for him.

Cathie had the ability to make me totally irresponsible so Thursday I stayed at work for an hour or so and we headed off to meet Erin. our suite mate from Stephens.  She was the counselor at the school for the deaf near New Hope, Pa.  At Stephens Erin had a closet full  of triple-starched shirts and pleated skirts. She also, as we used to tease her, went out with every male within a fifty mile radius.  So she gets in the car and the first thing Cathie asks her was if she had a sweetie. Erin did not even hesitate but went on to tell us how she dated so many guys looking for one she felt something with.  When she left Stephens and went to another college she met a female professor and discovered that she was gay. I was not real sure what to say but good old Cathie said that was cool. It was cool as it answered a lot of questions about Erin that we had had.  It was an awesome afternoon and Cathie and I kept in touch with Erin for years.

That night I had the Kaplan class in Philadelphia, but I sort of skipped it and just told Dennis Cathie was going with me.  Instead of class we did Philadelphia - Market Square, South Street with the break dancers on every corner, the Art Museum, and we talked.  Cathie always knew my secrets and was a good listener.  There were times when I really should have taken her advice.

Friday night Dennis, the boys and I had been invited for dinner with a guy Dennis worked with. I had been to their house several times before and dreaded the thought of ever going again so Cathie was a good excuse.  Dennis suggested I call the wife, Sally, and tell her I had company and see if we could get out of it.  My having company didn't work as we could just bring her so I tried the fact that Cathie was a vegetarian but that did not work either.  We were doomed.

Sally and Glen had a beautiful home in a neighborhood we could not afford, six beautiful daughters and Sally was a beautiful woman herself.  I got the feeling she rarely left the house which seemed to be a common factor with most of the Ford wives.  Maybe they all moved so much it made them crazy. I always said I could write a book about corporate wives and what it does to them as I met a lot of really strange ones.

So as usual, we arrived at 7:00 and dinner was served at 11:30. There was the usual additional assortment of added guests making ten at the dinner table.  The kids had pizza early and were playing games and watching movies in the rec room. Cathie was the life of the party and it was obvious that all the other guests were quite taken with her girl-next-door looks and intelligence. Cathie told Sally that her being a vegetarian was her problem and not to worry about the food and that she'd be fine.  Sally had made a center piece of vegetables that was really quite outstanding and when dinner came she moved it in front of Cathie and that was  to be her dinner. Every jaw at the table dropped. The man sitting next to Cathie was the lead violinist with the Philadelphia Symphony and he pushed the center piece away and gave Cathie his salad, Sally went nuts and demanded she eat the centerpiece at which time I asked Dennis for the car keys and Cathie and I left. Dennis did not.  Cathie and I were both laughing all the way home.  Not only did I stand up to Sally but I also left Dennis there.  Hooray for me!

I told Cathie it might be a little testy around the house the next day and she said she really did need to get back to the Institute.  Icy is a better explanation than testy.  Guess my exit and the fact that I sort of forgot the boys didn't set too well.  Glen brought them all home after dinner was over.  Cathie promised to come back soon and we never got invited to another dinner at Sally's house.  Another hooray! 

Funny but it always seemed like when things were going great for me or I was really happy about something all of a sudden the world came crashing down around me. I was doing well in the classes, happy at the Library, having fun with the boys, loved my house, loved Riverton and had great friends when WHOP the world falls in.

Dennis came home one day and announced we were moving!  



No comments:

Post a Comment

She's Back

  I knew it had been a long time since I added to my rather lengthy story but was surprised that it had been since May of last year.  Many r...