The NE 4!
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- 15 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Okay, last time, I had just gotten back from the Mosaic House. And I said that the New England Four had pulled up in their rental car.
Who are they? Ah, so glad you asked. Delighted in fact.
The Four were the four members of the group who were able to come down from Massachussetts for Vincent’s party. They are, in no particular order, Patty R., Michelle M., Tom L., and Jim L.
They’re people we’ve known for decades. Well, Martha longer than me, but still, I’ve been part of their circle since the late 1970s. Patty was another teacher that Martha knew back in her public school days. And she is, btw, a very good one. She’s retired now, but she’s also a master gardener. You’ll recall we visited her on our last New England trip.
Michelle used to be a teacher, and that’s where Martha met her. However, she left that field to go into business. She also did a lot of work for merchants along one of Boston’s major thoroughfares. At one point I dubbed her “The Mayor of Massachussetts Avenue.” I don’t think she much cared for the title...but...
Tom was another teacher that Martha knew. He, too, left the profession because of low pay and poor treatment of teachers in general (this is a theme, and an unfortunate one). He went into Public Relations and then other forms of business as well. He’s retired now.
Jim we met through Tom. He’s one of the few in the group without a public school teaching connection. For a long time, he did social service work, and then went into real estate as a kind of secondary career. He did very well in both.
That day, the four came in. I was wondering how it would work. Patty, like Vincent, had been out to visit us in Texas a couple of times. She’d met the g’kids and they’d met her. But we hadn’t seen Jim, Tom, or Michelle in almost a decade. I think the last time we’d met in person was the kids’ wedding, and that was way back in 2015.
And, of course, Hazel and Miles had never met them at all.
About the photos: First, Emily, David, Jim, and Tom on the day before the party. Second, Vincent and Michelle. Third, Martha and Patty in conversation. And, finally, I believe this is a magnolia. In any case, it is magnificent and is just outside Vincent’s house.
But, everything went just fine. David and Emily, whom they’d last seen as young newlyweds, are now approaching middle age. But, as David put it later, “everyone just picked up where they’d left off.” It was as if the wedding had been yesterday, and no one missed a beat.
The g’kids were also quick to adapt to (and adopt!) people who were to them complete strangers. Introductions were made. As the day went on, I watched them interact with the New England 4. There was no shyness. No hanging back. These people were, it seemed to them, just more of the Greater Parental Circle. As such, there was no need to worry about them, or to wonder how best to interact with them. Watching them play and talk and otherwise be with the new found aunts and uncles, you would have thought that they’d known them all their lives.
I suppose that says much, and much which is good, about the Four and about our little group. It is open and welcoming. But, also, I’m guessing it has much to do with the grandchildren’s age. They are still very young--three and six respectively. At that time in your life, you don’t think a lot about how you are perceived by others. At least, normal, healthy children don’t. You just live your life.
I suppose, too, that that happy state goes away, eventually. One morning, you wake up, you’re a teenager, and the opinions of others are of paramount importance, and you’re in hell if you’re sure they disapprove of you. Which is sad. And it is a waste of time and energy.
But, I suppose there’s no escaping it. I know it was true for me. In fact, only in the last decade so I have begun (just begun!) to exit that curious stage of personality development. Which means, at 68 years of age I may finally, at long last, *start* to see the end of puberty. By the end of the century, maybe I’ll even see a touch of adulthood.
Not holding my breath, though.
But...getting back to my story. There was something else to look forward to.
To wit, food.
And more on that next time.
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