Somehow, I have to start at the very end of today before I start from the beginning. As I hugged my mother goodbye - that extra-nice, mutual mother-daughter "moment" - we both exclaimed, "This was the BEST weekend, thank you!" My dad, bewildered, said, "Man, grandma's cancer is the best thing that's happened to you."
In a way it's eerily true. I'm not here to write "my grandma has cancer" and then spend time feeling sorry about it. I am a firm believer in the old saying: It is what it is. And true, the last 72 hours were probably the last time I'll be visiting her.
She is truly remarkable. A writer at heart, she typed up her family stories - she has 91 and a half years of them, to boot - and can still tell you about the time she was attending Catholic school at age 6, and how her mother yelled at the wretched nun who hit my grandmother with a ruler. She still remembers her father as "a giant of a man, six foot three, with the broadest shoulders you've seen" - except her father passed away before she was a teenager. She ought to have written a novel. Her mind is not sharp these days, but the visuals it creates when she's telling a story is wonderful.
I will miss her the most for that very reason. I like to think that's where I get my knack for writing. To lose the person I really "leveled with" is hard. And the cancer. It's beyond me how someone who does not smoke or drink dies of throat cancer. There are a million and one factors in this illness that I won't discuss and we'll probably never truly know.
On to BOSTON! You know the trip is going to be a good one if there's Hangover references the whole time. My mother, sister and I began calling ourselves the "wolf pack," and made enough inside jokes to last us years.
The sad fact of Boston is that we never get to do anything "touristy" when we visit. We had an extra day on this trip, and got to bounce around the Kennedy museum on Saturday, which was the coolest ever. I got lo learn a little more about JFK than I already knew - his year at the American Embassy in Paris (!), his background in writing, his time in the navy, and the fact that he'd written a book called "Why England Slept" which analyzed Europe's lack of response to Germany's uprising in WW2. I actually forgot what a history geek I was. I need to read more books, and you can bet I'm starting with "Why England Slept."
They expanded the wing on the lovely Jackie O. I remember thinking to myself, "I want to be her." I rescind that. Although she was beautiful, smart and brought so much art and culture to the White House, her disposition seemed almost too breathy and housewifey. She was not the forward-thinking woman I thought her to be. But it was the early sixties, and she had an image to hold up, and part of that image was dutiful wife and mother. And I understand that.
I decided I don't want to be her, but I'd give up all my possessions to dress like her. A stunning wardrobe. So jealous!
After that, an incredible lunch followed - well, I should say an incredible dessert followed! I had some of the best homemade fro-yo ever at a tiny soda fountain called Cabot's. Loved the vintage feel (and the glassware)! Lunch itself wasn't impressive, bit Lauren and I each stuffed ourselves with sundaes. After that, we had an incredible time driving through Lexington and Concord, and made it to the North bridge, where the "Shot Heard Round the World" was fired. Loved this tiny memorial to the British soldiers, though:
It was gross and muddy on the way, and we did have a "man down." Sorry, Laur!
And I can't forget about the cosmos. When all was said and done, after every delish meal and fun little visit to cheer Grandma up, the wolf pack found themselves back at the hotel bar, chatting with our new "friend" Ram. He makes the best cosmo you'll ever have. Mmm, mmm, mmm.
Although we hit zero traffic home, it was an exhausting trip and very difficult to leave. I know it's not my last adventure in Beantown, but it was a rare kind of weekend in itself. Back to reality tomorrow.
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