7:35 PM - Monday, Jun. 27, 2004
Of \"morning rooms\" and uncles
Dear Diary,
The day began early. The night before we had hurried to pack all of our things. I was lucky I was able to bring my laptop. Of course, I had to sneak it into my backpack when Mom was looking, but it was worth it. Anyway, at the ghastly hour of 5:00, Gabe and I were packing all of our things into Mom’s white Beetle. Soon we were on the road. I don’t remember much of the trip. I had fallen asleep somewhere between our town and Boston. The next thing I knew, Mom was pulling into the driveway of an enormous house.
Grandma and Grandpa’s house requires some explaining. It is located on a long boulevard of ornate and humongous mansions. I guess you would call their house a mansion. It’s not as big as the White House or Windsor Palace but it seems to be right up there on the list on excessively ginormous homes. The house is set back from the property, allowing for a long and perfectly manicured lawn to spread from the sidewalk to the front steps. I had never thought much on my Mom’s childhood. But seeing this house has made me realize that I don’t know very much about my mother.
The front porch wraps nearly all the way around the house and is very deep. Once inside, I saw the house was filled with sunlight, and not dark and musty as I had expected. There were Persian and Oriental rugs scattered all around. There was a Grand Piano in one of the rooms and cases filled with books lined the shelves. Gabe and I had dropped our stuff by our feet and stood staring at everything in the house. Mom did the complete opposite. She was pacing around the door staring at her watch and acting as if she wanted to get out of the place. She whispered to the housekeeper (I can’t believe my grandparent’s have a housekeeper!) about calling for her parents. As Mom looked up, Grandma was descending the huge curved staircase with her arms spread wide.
“Oh my grandchildren have finally arrived.” She cried. Gabe and I were suddenly washed over with awkwardness. We didn’t know what to do. I was thankful that Mom began lecturing Grandma instead.
“Really, Mother” she began, “Can’t you ever be on time? I’ll probably be late opening the store.”
“Goodness Dinah! This is my house isn’t it? You could have just left the children here and had been off. I know how you hate the place so.” Mom scowled and then turned to us, with a more pleasant expression.
“Okay, kids. Be good and don’t give Grandma and Grandpa a hard time. Call me when you can and I’ll be back to get you in two weeks!” She then hugged and kissed us both. After we said good-bye she hurried out the door and to the car. Before I could catch her, she was out of the driveway and down the street. Gabe turned to Grandma and greeted her properly.
“Hello, Grandma. It’s nice to see you again.” He smiled even though Grandma grabbed and hugged him a little roughly.
“Well, Clara?” She asked me, “Cat got your tongue? You are so quiet!”
“Hi Grandma. It’s nice to see you, too.” She didn’t hug me but instead said
“My goodness Clara! You have grown up to be such a pretty young lady! Look at that hair! And Gabriel!” Gabe flinched at the mention of his full name. He brightened at what Grandma said next. “You certainly have turned into a handsome one, too! I bet all the girls are after you!”
We were then taken to our rooms. My room was pleasantly sunny, all done in white and China blue. I put my bag on a chair and collapsed on the bed. Soon, Grandma poked her head around and told me that breakfast would be served in the morning room in a half hour. Before she left I asked her where Grandpa was.
“He just went out to the office to check something. He should be back for breakfast.” She smiled and left. I was left to explore both my room and my accompanying bathroom before breakfast. I was about to find Gabe’s room when I realized I was already 5 minutes late for breakfast. I went down the hallway and saw a door ajar. I thought maybe Gabe was still in there and we could go together. It was Gabe’s room, easily classified as such due to the piles of things already forming on the ground. But he wasn’t there. Great, I thought, just this once Gabe decides to be punctual. I was looking for the grand staircase when I stumbled upon a cramped, narrow stairway once used by servants. I figured it must lead downstairs somewhere, so I took it. Actually, it led into the kitchen. No one was in there so I took the doorway leading into a hallway. By now I must be 15 minutes late, I thought. Frantically, I pulled open every door I came across in hopes of finding the “morning room.” The last door I opened had someone inside in the room. The fierceness of my opening the door startled the person. It was a young man and he had been reading a book. I surprised him so that his book had flown from his hands and onto the ground.
“I’m sorry for startling you.” I apologized.
“No, it’s alright.” He stood up from his chair and faced me. From where I was standing I could see he had beautiful green eyes just like my mother’s. He had a head of curly brown hair and was very tall. “You must be Clara.”
“Uh...yes I am.” Before I could ask him how he knew my name he said,
“And you must be looking for the ‘morning room.’ I’ll take you, I’m due there myself.” He gently pushed me out of the room and led me to a completely different part of the house. I was desperately trying to remember every turn he took, but it was no use. Within minutes, we had arrived at the desired location. Grandpa was there, along with Grandma and Gabe. Gabe was already on his second helping of bacon.
“Ah...Clara!” Grandpa beamed, “It is so nice to see you! And I see you have met your Uncle Cab!” My head swiveled around to meet the green eyes of Uncle Cab. He just winked and seated himself in a chair next to Gabe. Apparently, Gabe had already met Uncle Cab, as they began to talk quite comfortably. I had completely forgotten that Mom had a brother. But that wasn’t entirely my fault. Mom had made a point not to mention him. But I don’t know why. Nobody mentioned my tardiness and instead left me to wallow in my confusion.
