Subj: Un bell' giorno
Date: 7/9/00 6:52:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Esther Yardumian-Smythe and I have talked for ages & ages about getting together for lunch. On Friday, it happened! She swung by Squirrel Haven around 1:00 p.m. and we were off & running. She took me to a new restaurant - the Allways Cafe in Bethayres. It is located where Wagner's Bakery once stood.
It was, as I expected, a wonderful afternoon. Esther & I had a lively conversation - never a dull moment. Esther is always a tonic for my spirits and this was no exception. In age, she is a tad younger than Elsa; in spirit, we’re irrepressible contemporaries, sharing a love of life and of her mother, or as Esther calls her – the Mate.
In addition to updating me on the past year - she teaches at the Academy and is the high school girls' dorm "Mom," jobs that would keep the average person hopping - she filled me in on her plans to spend a month in Florence with her husband. They will have a nice apartment, with flowers and trees all around. She will be studying the art treasures.
If I ever go to Italy, the place where I would want to spend the most time is Florence, for its culture and art, so it was wonderful to lap up news of their upcoming adventures. I especially like the fact that her husband will be there too. It is fun to imagine how Pete and I would fare over there for month. I like to think we would do quite well.
In addition to our gab fest, which covered many bases, it was fun to see all sorts of friends and acquaintances who had also stopped by to "put on the old nosebag." There was Bob Bieswenger, Emily Jane Lemole, members of the Garth Cooper clan (who own the café), Bryon Odhner, and others I cannot recall.
I had a good lesson in the power of the Internet when Emily Jane came up and gave me a hug & a kiss, which surprised me until she said how much she had loved reading what I had written about her Mom after Emilie's death and wondered if we had a print out of it that she could have.
That is one of the greatest things about this electronic medium and about sharing things that can be passed along without hesitation. There is no knowing where they are going or who will see them.
When Esther brought me home, we hung around the living room for a while and talked some more. Lunch was a wonderful treat, but talking in the living room was my favorite part. Among other things, we looked at life from the point of view of teenagers and the point of view of adults. It was a rare afternoon. It was hard to say our good byes.
Prologue - when Elsa came in the door that night, she asked how my day was. I reminded her, as she was coming around the big chair, that I had gone out with Esther. As she tells it, she expected to see me looking happy, but with a touch of the translucent grey I get to my face when I am tired. She was bowled over - according to her, I looked simply radiant and very strong. I said it earlier and will say it again - Esther is a tonic! My thanks to her for "un bell' giorno" and may she have a magical month in Florence. And schedule some time for another lunch before school begins!
Love to all! May your summer (or winter) be filled with wonder - Cybergram
reposted in sweet memory of its author, KATHARINE REYNOLDS LOCKHART, by her scribe/daughter, Elsa Lockhart Murphy aka Deev, in celebration of the 05/14 centenary of the Cybergram's birthday
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