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Show 676 »I miss the family," I said wistfully as we drove into a rural • trict of the valley. "Sometimes I drive to the white house and , t stand in the yard, remembering. The pump Danny stuck his tongue .-remember, Mama? - i t ' s s t i l l there. And so i s the barn and the swimming pool. Who owns i t now, Daddy?" His eyes narrowed. "I couldn't say for sure. They're renting our homes as apartments." "We had such happy times t h e r e . " My mother took a handkerchief jut of her purse and dabbed at her eyes. My father nodded serenely. "It was heaven on earth." We sat in silence, remembering. I was surprised at the sudden flush of nostalgia, and that I would share i t with my parents lat had happened to my r e s e r v a t i o n , to my pride? Where had i t melted way and what had i t become? We turned down a lane and drove a distance before entering iprivate drive with several homes c l u s t e r i n g the d i r t road. Jhe big white house loomed, s t a t e l y brick with heavy wooden doors. Suddenly I realized that through t h i s building my father had t r i ed to recapture the white house days. The smell of manure, the gurgle »fturkeys and mawing of cows, the l i t t l e blond children scattering a the car turned down the drive - my t h r o a t clicked and stuck W I saw through a blur. "Your mother would be happy here. Fresh a i r , farm animals, bounded by loved ones." fa'terki. ~+V,«-K> qaidA I remembered "I'm at home where I l i v e now," my mother saidA ** she had been ylj. 1 imrlnr rnTiHripmhla p r e s s u r e d give up her *. but I knew she would not do i t . Even now there were traces of tobom r e s o l u t i o n in her voice. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ "Mama has a mind of her own," I said, «i «* ,j |
