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Show A PROPER INTRODUCTION-34 all was just fine and inviting me home for Christmas. By then, they had moved to this house, and Christmas seemed unreal among the unpacked cartons, one of which housed the tree ornaments. A few Christmasses later, she could barely walk and was extremely thin, not strong enough enough to wheel herself up and down the ramp. She wasn't doing housework any longer, and Dad was beside himself trying to keep his surroundings and meals as he was accustomed. We tried to convince her to stay active, which we were told would delay the progression fo her disease. "You're only forty-eight," we tried to joke, "hardly at retirement age." But while Dad railed against his fate as come-lately housekeeper and persisted in buying frothy nightgowns for her, she nodded and smiled and curled up on the sofa, wrapped in the afghan Laura had made for her. "Talking to yourself, huh?" Dad has just walked into the kitchen, startling me. He's staring down at me, and says, "You are very like her, you know." He puts his hand on my head and keeps it there for what seems to be a very long time. Finally he says it's time to go out and buy the urn and flowers. Laura will be arriving soon to accept calls and try to locate Paul. She's also taken it upon herself, he tells me, to notify relatives, and has decreed that it isn't necessary for mother's family to travel here (she had six siblings), except that George, the oldest, who lives in Boston, has decided to come anyway. Perhaps because she's supported herself for so long, Laura is accustomed to managing things, and she seems almost to be enjoying her responsibilities now. Dad and I find an urn at an import shop, made of carved brass with a long, slender, graceful neck. The choice of flowers is mine, and I go straight for the |
