MJ and I were invited to lunch with Mr and Mrs Porter today, who lived a few doors down from MJ in her childhood home. Now they are matriarch and patriarch of a big clan, with two daughters and a son, who all have families, living in the same street.
MJ is an honorary Porter, her mother having been a friend of Mrs Porter, and also having babysat for Mrs Porter when she was a teenager.
Mrs Porter is a born raconteur and all the family are all very pleasant (there were two daughters, and five grand-daughters there too) talking over each other, and adding-to each other's stories which came thick and fast.
Mrs Porter said that when she dies her idea of heaven would be Brooklyn - and there was much discussion of Brooklyn after the war. Later she owned the only drive-thru Deli on Long Island. The cast of characters that used to go there, such as the guys from the mortuary stopping by for coffee and rolls with dead people in the back of the car, or the murderer, have inspired her to write stories about it. I would like to read them.
She also talked a lot about MJ's mother Vi such as her rage when a nasty neighbour sprayed the nine year old Weezer with a garden hose one November.
Really enjoyed all this, and I was made to feel very welcome -- as well as very full. Exceedingly nice Devilled Eggs.
Then we went home and I cooked chickens and MJ cooked yummy baked ziti for our guests in the evening.
I was sad to say goodbye to the bairns as they were off to their father's for the weekend. Jack was very sweet and told me that he didn't want me to go. I have been getting on with the children excellently on this visit.
Kate however was in a terrible rage. We had left her with her best pal little Christine Porter. While we were gone, something happened and Christine didn't want to play with her. After sobbing in the back of the car when MJ first collected her, by the time she got home she flew into a towering rage, and hid when her father came to collect her, and refused to say goodbye to me.
Met Chris the children's father for the first time.
Evening spent gorging on food with MJ, Weezer, Keith and the mighty Velmar and their son Mark. We invited a few more people but they couldn't come at the last moment so we had a surfeit of grub which on top of the food we had at Mrs Porter's place meant that MJ and me ate 93000 calories today. Very enjoyable night.
MJ is an honorary Porter, her mother having been a friend of Mrs Porter, and also having babysat for Mrs Porter when she was a teenager.
Mrs Porter is a born raconteur and all the family are all very pleasant (there were two daughters, and five grand-daughters there too) talking over each other, and adding-to each other's stories which came thick and fast.
Mrs Porter said that when she dies her idea of heaven would be Brooklyn - and there was much discussion of Brooklyn after the war. Later she owned the only drive-thru Deli on Long Island. The cast of characters that used to go there, such as the guys from the mortuary stopping by for coffee and rolls with dead people in the back of the car, or the murderer, have inspired her to write stories about it. I would like to read them.
She also talked a lot about MJ's mother Vi such as her rage when a nasty neighbour sprayed the nine year old Weezer with a garden hose one November.
Really enjoyed all this, and I was made to feel very welcome -- as well as very full. Exceedingly nice Devilled Eggs.
Then we went home and I cooked chickens and MJ cooked yummy baked ziti for our guests in the evening.
I was sad to say goodbye to the bairns as they were off to their father's for the weekend. Jack was very sweet and told me that he didn't want me to go. I have been getting on with the children excellently on this visit.
Kate however was in a terrible rage. We had left her with her best pal little Christine Porter. While we were gone, something happened and Christine didn't want to play with her. After sobbing in the back of the car when MJ first collected her, by the time she got home she flew into a towering rage, and hid when her father came to collect her, and refused to say goodbye to me.
Met Chris the children's father for the first time.
Evening spent gorging on food with MJ, Weezer, Keith and the mighty Velmar and their son Mark. We invited a few more people but they couldn't come at the last moment so we had a surfeit of grub which on top of the food we had at Mrs Porter's place meant that MJ and me ate 93000 calories today. Very enjoyable night.
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