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Show I enjoyed the generalized quality of our talk, for a change. Perhaps I had accepted my f a t h e r ' s i n a b i l i t y to provide certain kinds of intimacy, or perhaps my writing and distance from the family had inspired more objective i n t e r e s t in the goings-on of the group* and family• Or perhaps I f e l t more tolerant because I sensed an answering tolerance in him. There was something changed in his character. He was older, of course, and more burdened with problems and responsibilities than ever before. He spoke of l e t t e r s and midnight phone c a l l s , of people wishing to borrow money or asking advice. People wanted to know where they should live, whether they should take on another wife, or sell land or buy furniture. They raited him to dianose t h e i r i l l n e s s e s from a distance., or/vtravel in the dead of night to t e l l whether t h e i r children had measles Jr heat rash. not one of my g i r ls "Last Thursday A spread a welcome mat for me, so I stayed at the office, hoping to find some peace." He winked at my mother. She sighed. "One of the g i r l s wanted to change her night, so we're expected to change our plans. I had piano lessons and didn't even know everything was shifted u n t i l I was in the middle of them." My father patted her hand. "It has happened before, and 1 expect i t will happen again." The mixture of independence and reliance on my father which I now saw as ji one of the strengths, toe points of balance in plural marriage, had created problems before. Eachmothr developed her 3pee#S& i n t e r e s t s and t a l e n t s , and when her night of special pursuit came around, the iimAo nrdui ui rtrrng °°uld be disrupted. Birthdays and anniversaries, r e c i t a l s and tournaments threw off the family affinnVto'. In the old days, the others had traded gladly with each other- But the old days were gone. |
