Come September

Suddenly I was quite glad there was dim lighting. It helped hide the tears that were filling my eyes and threatening to roll down my cheeks. My head could not keep up with my heart that was racing by now.

“Aunt Jane, I’m afraid we’ve overwhelmed Carrie.”

Overwhelmed was an understatement. Never in a million years had I anticipated this. It was like offering a starving man an eight-course meal all at once- where did I start?

“Well, dear, I really hadn’t prepared her. You see, Kelly, Lottie really wanted no mention of any of the situation around Carrie. Lester and I, against my instincts, tried to respect her wishes. But Carrie is an adult now, even by the law. Therefore, it’s high time she had some answers.

The fact of the matter was I had still sought answers about my mother as a miner pans for gold and every nugget I had found was a treasure.

For instance, I knew that Millie had had a heart condition from an early age and Lottie had reigned in tight on Millie- to protect her I’m sure- but that had only served to make her want freedom all the more. Lottie had warned her that doctors said to never marry and have children. But, much more than that, I never knew.

I can’t remember if the food was good – I don’t even remember tasting it. Kelly was fascinating and I hung on her every word. Her stories would move us to laughter or tears, such as: the time she and Millie didn’t sleep at all one night thinking about attending their first matinee and then fell asleep during the silent movie. Or the time Kelly’s big brother Tim, had to rescue them from the woods because they were afraid of tigers and lions and bears, oh my!

It became apparent that we needed to move on, but we were all very reluctant. We decided to meet at Jane’s house for dinner that evening. Kelly said she had a very special package for me. She needn’t have dangled that carrot because I wouldn’t have missed that meeting for anything.