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Rodney was gone and at work
so much of the time I think Mrs. Donahoe believed I was like a widow.
Every once in a while she would make a comment about it. This morning when
she did it was while I was pulling out the painting I had done of her.
Suddenly she was quiet and
thoughtful and then she said, “My doctor told me if I get on that tractor
one more time, well, he couldn’t promise me anything with my heart, and
all. I don’t think I’ll go like that though. I imagine I’ll just go off to
sleep and not wake up.”
It was something for me to
think about and I felt a bit guilty about putting the hoe in the picture.
To some of the older folks this was a symbol of death. I had not even
thought about it at all.
“Bill’s a good catch, you
know.” Mrs. Donahoe was mischievously grinning.
“Now, Mrs. Donahoe I’m
married, you know.” I smiled as I said it.
“Yeah, but he’s never
around. Does he work all the time?” She was sincere.
“Yes, he works a lot but he
gets paid well, too.” I told her.
“Still, you can’t
accomplish a thing without a man. Look at my old man, he can hardly do
anything but he’s always with me.” It was her way of thinking and I didn’t
disagree with her but I was content. The attraction for anything but my
family just wasn’t there.
Mrs. Donahoe called the
next morning and said, “I’m sending Bill over with some vegetables,” She
was wily and I knew it.
In a rush I ran around the
house pulling clothes out, scattering them here and there over my usually
neat house. I grabbed dishes from the cabinets and loaded up the sink and
counters. Who would know they weren’t dirty dishes? By the time Bill
arrived the house looked like a tornado had struck. The shy, polite man
stood just inside the door with his hands full of a sack of vegetables. He
looked around the place with bugged out eyes and couldn’t seem to take his
gaze off the mess. I could have been Elizabeth Taylor and he wouldn’t have
noticed me. Here was this hard working man in the presence of the laziest
housekeeper he had probably ever seen. He quietly backed out after he had
put the sack on the floor, walked down the drive and was off and gone in a
hurry. I did feel a bit guilty for this deception with my dear, beloved
friend, but it was the quickest way I knew to handle the situation. As it
happened
Mrs. Donahoe was aware of her physical condition.
The phone rang in the early
morning. Something about the jingle of it made me feel apprehensive.
“Mrs. Donahoe passed away
during the night in her sleep. We know so many people we are having a
private funeral. We would like for you to be there.” Patsy spoke with
quiet remorse.
Already a great loneliness
settled over me. The funeral was short but the large room was full and
overflowing. The speaker simply said, “Mrs. Donahoe wanted to be
remembered as a hard worker.”
I did feel guilty now that
I had squelched the thought of giving her a last belief in her son’s
settling down with a wife. He very soon was married to a very nice lady
who owned the land next to him so it all worked out for the best.
The days were going by
slowly. I had known there was a lump in my side for quite a while but it
wasn’t until now I began to feel tired all the time. My mind was turning
toward home. Surgery wasn’t a new thing because Mark had been delivered by
Caesarian and I wanted to be close to family in case anything was really
wrong. |
