This was my moment. The courage, the rage, the fear, the sadness, all the horrible little moments I had inflicted on myself were at crises point. And ...this was the minute in time when everything was going to change for Peter and I. Change again, and change for the better, I just knew it. ‘Anna, my god. You have endured this whole, what is it, a little over a week now, with this pain? You said nothing? You did not confront me? You did not fight with me? How could you be this patient with me? How. ‘special’ ... relationship with those two, then others are already making connections about your lifestyle.”He appeared deeply conflicted about whatever was coming.“The War Department has ordered me to send you along with a small contingent of assistants on an efficiency mission covering most of the Pacific Theater. The task is to visit and examine our smaller operations and outlying bases. See what they are doing that can be done better and find out the things they do well and see if those. She kept looking at me as if she wanted me to do something. I started to get anxious.My eyes cut contact with hers and I walked away. A little while later I found Ella's room. She sat on her bed with a discman. Black wires extended out from both her ears, converged, and connected to the discman in her hands. Her head rocked back and forth rhythmically. When her eyes detected me, her fingers pulled out the earphones. She asked me why I took so long in the toilet.I spoke. "You have a little. This was Nicks’ favorite time of year. He got to bring a little happiness into children’s lives as he took a month off of work. He dressed up as Santa and donated the proceeds of his Santa work to Toys for Tots. He grabbed the suit, headed downstairs, and out to his car. Still with a huge grin on his face, he drove off to the dry cleaners. “Hey Nick, is that time of year again?” the dry cleaner, Doris, greet him. “Yeah, it seems to be coming quicker and quicker every year Doris.” He smiled.
Read More