October 19^th 2018

Bobbie got up around 06:30 and poured a cup of coffee. She opened her laptop and created a spreadsheet for their trip home. Mostly the spreadsheet was a to-do list that helped organize her thoughts. She had a ‘travel home’ spreadsheet already because she and Alex made the trip at least a hundred times. He’d be out making sure the car was cleaned out and gassed up around now. With a little sadness she checked on the car then want to the garage and grabbed the coolers. She emptied her fridge of anything that would spoil, composting what was already gone and put good food into the coolers to take to Moms. She had this done By 09:00 and was proud of her nearly empty fridge. The freezer in the garage was still full though.

Her Mom was packed and ready to go so Bobbie was in a bit of a rush. As a kid, Bobbie earned the reputation of being late. At 20, when she was called for an interview for her job in Citadel City, she was visiting home and was so late, that she missed her train. Her father had to cancel a class and drive her there, to be on time. She was 4 months pregnant and got the job anyway but her Dad teased her about always being late dredging up the missed train as his most extreme example.

She came down with her bag and said “I’m finally ready”. It took a few minutes to load the coolers into the car and By 10:30 they were on the road; only 30 minutes later than they’d planned to leave.

When they arrived at the house, right away Bobbie noticed the yard was looking a little overgrown. Her mother didn’t have a particularly green thumb but had a good eye and always had pretty gardens. When they got inside; the house smelled musty and she could see dust on everything. The garbage can in the kitchen was crawling with maggots, almost making her crawl out of her skin, and when she opened the fridge she was surprised to find it was almost empty.

She helped her Mom take her bag upstairs. “Mom, have you been feeling OK. There seems to be a lot around here that’s looking neglected.”

“Well dear, after your dad died I felt a little overwhelmed with it all and I sometimes still feel that way.”

“I get it, I’m already noticing all the things Alex used to do, that I now have to do. I’m sorry I didn’t visit you more after Dad died, maybe this week we can get a few things sorted out.”

“That would be lovely. I just couldn’t figure how to look after everything alone. I’m a little light headed, I’m going upstairs to rest a few minutes dear”

Bobbie had that weird spacey feeling that you get when you’ve been away and return to a familiar house. Everything felt alien. She decided just to dig in. She went into the kitchen and started work. Bobbie had done dishes at that sink 1000’s of times. She took the garbage out to the curb and saw the cleanest compost bin in the world tucked into the carriage house. I’ll definitely fix up a recycle station and compost thought Bobby. After cleaning up more unpacking the food she brought she made a plan for dinner and was starting to feel more at home. Then she called James to give him heck for not visiting their Mom enough. Actually he wasn’t picking up and by then she had changed her mind so she didn’t leave a message.

House

In 1969, when Bobby was 4 and her brother James was 2, they moved to Crow Harbour where her Dad (with his freshly minted PHD in History) was offered tenure. Her Mum was finishing up Med school, which was a big deal for her. Two of her sisters in law were nurses and they had convinced her to be a doctor. In the beginning, Florence and Walt stayed with them and they helped look after baby Bobbie.

They bought a sort of ‘diamond in the rough’ big 3 story house that was a cross between Victorian and Dutch Colonial in ‘Old Town’ close to the University and Hospital. The house needed work and her parents, with a little nest egg and some help from their own parents, created a two story addition that was to be a doctors office for Florence with a great study/library space above it for Dad. They managed to purchase the empty lot next door, which was unusual for a city home, that would accommodate the addition to the house and a small parking lot for the doctor’s office. Young Bobbie and baby James shared a room on the second floor for the first couple years but after a bit more renovation and when they got older, moved to two big rooms on the third floor that had access to a widow’s walk and a Jack and Jill bathroom.

Like most old homes in Crow Harbour it had a large driveway and carriage house that went back to days when people travelled by horse drawn coach. Bobby remembered Her Mom having big family gatherings back there with the carriage house doors thrown open and the back patio doors open to access the kitchen. Those were the happiest times of her childhood.

Bobbie remembers her Grandmothers in the kitchen with her Aunts and Mom mixing salads and cocktails and her Dad and all the Uncles would be at the grill, cooking steaks, burgers and hot dogs. They had 2 charcoal grills and they used both at these parties. There was plenty of music too. Her father’s brothers were great musicians. They loved to sing and they liked trading songs.

Most of the block and lots of friends would show up too, this is where Bobbie got a taste for big parties. Bobbie (Roberta)actually got her nick name because when she was little, there was a party downstairs and she crawled out of her bed, sat on the stairs and belted out ‘Me and Bobbie McGee’ as loud as she could. That story was rolled out every so often and still embarrassed her a little.

It was different in the house now though, almost lonely. Bobbie had spent a week here when her father died and there was the funeral and the visitors but she hadn’t been back since. She must ask her son’s if they’d visited. They were both close with their grandparents. They stayed there a when they went to university.

Instead she called one of her best friends, Barb who still lived in Crow Harbour and was close to retiring from a teaching high school English. She was married to Jeremy who was 25 years her senior and was part of Barb’s estranged father’s law firm They connected when Jeremy was handling her fathers estate, he protected Barb’s interests without her asking and they grew close enough that they had a small wedding 2 years later. Currently, Jeremy was 81 years old and unfortunately had terminal cancer and had his good and bad days. He also had a DNR and Barb knew that they had been happy together, he had gotten the most out of his life.

Bobbie texted “Hi Barb, I’m home, at Mom’s, I hope Jeremy is having a good day. You guys have been using reliable house cleaners and gardeners for a while now and I was wondering if you have any you could recommend to mom. Maybe you could visit tomorrow and bring a list of your people.”

When Florence got up from her nap, Bobbie said “I think it is unfair and hard for you to take on everything yourself after Dad died. It’s easy for things to get away from you and tomorrow we’re going to talk to Barb about it. Barb has no trouble calling house cleaners and gardeners and people to help because she works full time and her Husband is sick. You shouldn’t feel bad either. Mom, I haven’t talked about this yet but I’m going to sell my home in Citadel City and hope it’s OK to move back here. Maybe we can sort of look after each other.”

He mother smiled. “I know all about your motel project here and I’m glad you want to come home for a while.”

They ate supper and Bobbie was fuming a little thinking that Jamie and her son’s had done absolutely nothing for her Mother.

Florence opened windows and changed sheets so Bobbie stayed in the guest room beside her mother. Her mind was racing and she wondered if she should get some CBD oil or something to calm her nerves.

October 20

She was a little fresher in the morning and made coffee and a batch of muffins before Barb arrived.

“Hi Bobbie, It’s so weird to visit you in this house.”

“I think the last time was probably Dad’s funeral”

“Bobbie, I’m sorry I didn’t check on your Mom. We had Jeremy’s diagnosis and have been making all those plans…”

“Don’t even think about that Barb. Florence has a son and 2 loving grandsons who ignored her too.”

“Well don’t be too hard on them Bobbie, Eddy and Charlie are so busy with their young families and medical careers. And you know Jamie, he works too much and he also tends to avoid emotional things. Here are the names of my cleaners and gardeners. Also a handyman who could put a fresh coat of paint on things.”

Her mother walked in the room.“We just had the place painted”

“Mom, that was when Charlie was a baby and drew on all the walls, it’s been almost 25 years”

“I know Dear, but it feels just like yesterday, time certainly goes fast as you get older.”

Over the next few days gardeners cleaned up the yard, the house cleaners finishing the fall cleaning, the handyman fixed sagging hinges and they were talking about new paint colours. Both Bobbie and Florence were happy about it. “Things are looking so much better here now. Do you feel like coming back to Citadel City with me to help me pack things?”