This is a writing exercise. They have a very different and interesting stat section. I began doing this yesterday and will rework the stories for the book. I give myself 40 minutes to do the exercise. Turns out to be the perfect time. So it’s unedited here. Sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this. Really wonder!
Hi Leslie
Thanks for your incredible letter and gorgeous Christmas card. It’s a fireplace keeper! I can’t wait until the Blenderbuster reunion Memorial Day Weekend and wish it were next week.
Remember the year we went to Jones Beach, rented four umbrellas because it was windy, and found that was the absolute worst thing to do in the rain? So we got into Victoria’s car, drove in what became pouring rain, round and round, as we listened to Rod Stewart and smoked way too many joints. Good times. Stupid times but somehow we survived. (Don’t try my life at home kids!)
I think North Myrtle will survive us. They’ve survived my older Goddaughter’s visits and she’s educated Black too. Round here that’s not usual. They wouldn’t know what to do if they knew your family owned both a plantation and a summer house in Sag Harbor. A summer house I miss much. I kind of modeled my house here on the house in Azurest. They’re not used to Jews either. Sometimes I feel as they would like to see me in a sideshow. Or I’m in one
Once I was at your house alone. I was just getting back into writing–sometime in the mid 80’s and would take a beer, a tablet and pen outside and just sit and write. Victoria was the first person to arrive for the weekend. She got a new car–a red Saab I think. I heard her come at least a quarter mile down the road and yelled at her for giving us Whites a bad rep. But then I went into her car and saw the dashboard lit up. It looked like Soho at night–then. Now I would analogize Times Square I guess. But maybe it had a more funky look. (To the young uns and people who only think they know New York–Soho was built up and crowded by the early 80’s. Tribeca was the next frontier and even it had fun bars, clubs, restaurants, and people moving into lofts that not long before had been garment factories. Tribeca had been a schmatta capital.)
End of digression:
Once when we were staying at the house I was taking a walk. Lucia had six month old Little Luce in a sling and they were walking the opposite way. Lucia whispered to me to call Little Luce’s name and I did! She looked up at me and waved! It was the first time she recognized herself! Now she’s a junior in college!
While everybody here seems to think most Hispanics are undocumented Mexicans (including Lucia’s very of Puerto Rican descent sister CLo) CLo, Lucia and Little Luce haven’t been run out of town or anything like that.
I have been watching The Golden Girls to prepare for our reunion for several reasons. I like it. We were so young when it was first on and they seemed so old–Dorothy (Bea Arthur) keeps saying that she’s 60. I still think they look older than we do now and Rue was only in her 40’s–but the haircut.
Once Victoria and I were staying in a motel in Cutchogue. Exhausted from a day of swimming in the water between the North and South Forks and eating a $9.99 lobster dinner that was to die for we retired early and watched The Golden Girls.
You know Victoria’s humor? Dry, understated? A wit I want to appropriate for my own. She was the first person to say:
The Golden Girls date more than I do.
I almost choked it was so funny. Other people claim to have made that expression up but I was there that night.
I still remember the night I met you and Victoria. The winter of 78 was famous for its blizzards. This wasn’t one. But it had been snowing.
Vince Alessi was my date to Lori Bernstein’s party at a loft she rented on the Bowery. Vince brought his white Caddy and made a big production of seeing if it was still there every fifteen minutes. It did get covered in mounds of snow at times. He would run out to shovel it. So you could see the white car in the snow. Not because it was a good way to get out of the parking spot later.
I got stoned. It was easier than caring. After the party ended I had Vince drive about seven of us to the Kiev for breakfast. Of all the breakfast places in New York it was my favorite. Except for maybe The Empire Diner as you never knew who was going to play the piano.
Your and Victoria were supervisors, I a mere coder. But we started talking….Your boyfriend until he died, Rick, was there. Everybody we were too hang with constantly for the next decade or so was at Lori’s party. We should have kept in touch with her to thank her. But uh she came on to all of us at different times and that was more than a bit uncomfortable.
I thought we were all going to remain a family forever, like The Golden Girls did. Maybe we needed to reach their ages to truly appreciate one another. Lucia, bless her, actually looks forward to my too frequent visits.
I’ll probably see you soon as Rafe is recovering from the aneurysms and I need to see him. Will know when, when I get my new Spirit Mastercard with four free roundtrips and can make reservations. This is in addition to my ten free trips anywhere in the continental US or five trips out of the motherland. I see a lot of travel in my future which is good because, Leslie, I need laughter. I need mental stimulation. I need to finish the frigging first draft and shop it. God yes I need that.
Love you much
~pia