“So how are you this morning?” Eric asked.

“Oh, good morning, Eric,” Eunice said, letting the memories of those long-gone days slip away from her. “I’m still here, and I guess that’s what counts.”

“I guess it does,” he said. “I know when I was a kid that I counted any morning that I didn’t get up until afternoon as a good one.”

“I was never that bad,” she smiled. “The coffee is warm, if you’re interested.” She glanced at her cup and noticed that it was empty; she’d been so lost in her memories that she hadn’t even noticed drinking it. “I could stand a warm-up if it’s no trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” he said. “Would you like some breakfast? I’m thinking maybe ham and eggs.”

“That sounds good,” she smiled. “I’ve come to like your hash browns and brown gravy, but I don’t think I’d care for it every day.”

“I don’t think I would every day myself,” he said, heading to the refrigerator to get started on breakfast. “Most days, yes, but not every day. That is one thing I’ve learned over the years. Sometimes there’s not a lot of room for variety on canoe trips or sailing or something, especially when it comes to breakfast. What I always wanted was quick and reliable. So what have you been thinking about?”

“The old days, again,” she sighed. “Mostly from back when Jeff and I were living in that little house in Wychbold, and you were in the Army.”

“I’ve seen the house you were talking about,” he said conversationally. “Jeff pointed it out to me years ago. But I’ve never been in it.”

“It was fine for us the first year we were married. It really was a little small, but we didn’t need a big house right then.”

“In case you’re wondering, I know what it’s like to live in a small place,” he laughed as he started assembling breakfast in one big frying pan. “I mean, think about the guest cottage, and that’s big compared to what the Hawksbill was. Sometimes there were several of us living on that for a while.”

“Yes, but you enjoyed that kind of thing. If the opportunity had arisen back when you had that boat, I wouldn’t have minded being on it for a few days, but that would have been about all. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to do it for months and years on end.”

“It’s part of the price I paid,” Eric shrugged as he stirred the eggs. “There were a lot of things I would never have been able to do if I hadn’t been willing to be a little uncomfortable now and then. But that’s all in the past. It’s been years since I’ve done any sailing other than just up and down this lake a little.”

Just then the phone rang. Since Eric was busy, Eunice got up from the table to answer it. It proved to be Ann. “Hi, Mom,” her daughter said. “How are you doing today?”

“A bit lost in memories,” she admitted. “It’s hard to keep from going back and trying to put things in order, but mostly I haven’t tried to stop doing it. Your father and I had some good years, Ann, and it’s pleasant to recall them.”

“I’m glad you’re getting along all right,” Ann told her. “Bob and I are going to be leaving in a few minutes, but I’ve got to stop off at the office and do a few quick things. At least it’s on the way. We ought to be pulling in late in the afternoon, and then I can get you set up for the funeral.”

“Don’t rush on my account. There are a couple things where Eric and I are probably going to need your help for a few minutes, but I don’t think anything major. We don’t know who is going to stay where yet. That’s something we still have to work out, and it’ll be hard to do until we know who is coming and when. Justin called yesterday afternoon; he’s bringing the family. They’re going to be driving in tomorrow, so should be here in the late afternoon. I haven’t heard from Ashley yet, and Megan had to talk it out with Chad last evening, so I don’t know what’s happening with them.”

“I talked with Ashley last night,” Ann reported. “She’s going to drive in, but by herself. She says Kevin would have real trouble getting away from work even if it was for his own funeral.”

“Somehow, that sounds like Kevin,” Eunice laughed. “How about Megan?”

“That’s going to have to wait a little. Chad won’t know if he can get out of work, but Megan says if she can she’ll bring Makayla with them. That’ll be nice. I haven’t seen the little squirt in months myself.”

“I’ve never seen her,” Eunice reminded her daughter. “I hope Megan and Chad can come. It would be nice to see them. I didn’t dare leave Jeff to go to their wedding, so I’ve only met Chad once. The last time I saw her was the summer before your father had his stroke, when she and Chad came by.”

“This is going to be the biggest group we’ve had together in a long time,” Ann said. “When I talked to you yesterday, you said Mark and Lori were going to drive up from Florida. Are they bringing Bradley and Shelby with them?”

“They’ll pick up Shelby at her college on the way,” Eunice told her. “She’s going to help with the driving, and it’s not far out of the way. Since Bradley is at the University of Tampa, it’s really not close enough for them to pick him up, so he’s going to be flying into South Bend tomorrow morning. Someone may have to go pick him up, that still has to be decided.”

“How about Elaine?”

“The last I knew they were coming, but I don’t know if Dustin and Shanna will be. I haven’t heard of any plans other than that.”

“Good. I haven’t seen her in a long time, either. Hey, I’d better let you go if you’re waiting for a call from Mark. I’ll see you this afternoon sometime. I’ll be on my cell if you want Bob and me to pick up something.”

“I can’t think of anything right now, but I’ll ask Eric if he can think of anything. We’ll plan on having you for dinner tonight. We can put you up here for the night, but we might have to shuffle you around when some of the others get in. That’s something else that Eric and I will have to work out when we know more who all is coming, but we’ll have some idea of what we’re doing by the time you get here.”

“Good enough. We’ll see you later, Mom.”

“Drive safely and take care.”

Eunice hung up the phone and reported the gist of the conversation to Eric. “That clears things up considerably,” she told him. “Right at the moment we should only be expecting Bob and Ann this afternoon, but it looks like we’ll have several more by tomorrow night. I really haven’t thought about where we’re going to put everybody, other than perhaps we ought to put Justin, Lauren, and their children in the guest cottage. At their age, I think everyone would appreciate it if there’s a chance the kids can be elsewhere for a while.”

“There or in the Lamplighter,” Eric agreed. Breakfast was just done cooking and he was starting to serve it. “The guest cottage ought to be big enough for them, with two small children. The only other option is a couple without kids.”

“We don’t know enough yet to make a final decision about where we’re going to put everyone,” she replied. “But that’s a start.”

“The guys from the rental company are supposed to be here pretty soon to pick up the hospital bed,” Eric observed. “We’ll still need to clean out Jeff’s room and get the bed and mattress down from the attic. I’m thinking we ought to plan on putting Bob and Ann in the other room upstairs. That way maybe they can be some help getting Jeff’s room ready for whoever is going to stay there. After the guys get the hospital bed out of here, I think maybe the best thing for me to do is to go out and get the guest cottage ready for whoever is going to wind up staying there.”

“I’ll be glad to help you with that, Eric.”

“I know you would, but you’re going to have to stay near the phone since there’s other people who are likely to call.”

“Yes, there are bound to be more phone calls,” she agreed. “I think we’re getting a clearer picture of who will be coming from out of town. Unless we get surprised, the only person I know of coming from out of town who’s not in the family will be Donna.”

“You’ve been keeping closer track of it than I have,” Eric shook his head. “Look, I think I’ll just let you worry about who’s coming when and going where. If we both try to do it we’re bound to slip up somewhere.”

The next hour was busy. Not unexpectedly, their breakfast was interrupted by a call from Bob and Ann’s son Mark. It proved that he and Lori were already on the road, bringing their daughter Shelby with them. Bradley, a college senior, was going to fly in separately. Shortly after Eric got the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher the men from the rental place showed up, and they were able to get the hospital bed out of the house efficiently. After they left, the two of them did some minor picking up in what had been Jeff’s room, but agreed to put the serious work off until later, possibly after Bob and Ann had arrived.

Finally, in mid-morning Eric decided to go out and get to work on the guest cottage. “There’s no way I can give it a heavy cleaning,” he said. “So I’m not going to try. I’m just going to get everything picked up, get some of the obvious things done and make sure everything’s working.”

“I agree, there’s no need for a heavy cleaning,” Eunice agreed. “But I think Justin and Lauren won’t mind, and they’ll understand that we can’t do everything on this short a notice.”

“Yeah, with two kids that age they won’t be used to having everything in perfect order anyway,” he agreed. “I guess I’d better go get started before something else comes up. Look, I’ll take the cell phone for you to call if you need me for anything, and that way I’ll have it if someone calls that number.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed. “Would you like me to make lunch?”

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said. “Call me on the cell when you are.”

Soon Eric was gone, and the house was quiet for Eunice again. Right at the moment she didn’t have a great deal that needed doing immediately other than wait for the phone to ring, so decided to have another cup of coffee.

The coffee that had tasted good a couple hours before was old and bitter now, so she started another pot. While she was waiting on it, her granddaughter Megan called; she and Chad were going to be flying in the next day. That made Eunice happy; she’d finally get a chance to see her great-granddaughter Mykayla. The coffee was done long before she finished the phone call, so she poured herself a cup, and took it into her favorite chair in the living room, where once again the memories overcame her.

Jeff and Eunice enjoyed their cozy little house on the edge of Wychbold for the first few months they lived there. It was just the right size for them at that point in their lives and didn’t need a lot of upkeep, which was good for them as they had other things on their mind just then.

But, as time went on, they discovered it wasn’t quite the idyllic little cottage they’d first thought it to be. When winter came it was cold, quite cold, in fact. It seemed like the oil furnace was running all the time and they often were chilly. Sleeping together in the nude soon became a distant if fond memory. Even with Jeff’s family and employee discount the heating bill seemed steep; considering his job Jeff was more aware than most how many trips the oil truck had made out to the house, and how they seemed to consume more fuel oil than some much larger places.

It got so bad Jeff called in a furnace repairman, just in case something was wrong with the furnace – sometimes they could get out of adjustment and use more fuel than needed, although Jeff knew enough about oil furnaces to recognize the signs of that happening. It turned out that everything was just about like it was supposed to be – it was just that the house had no insulation whatsoever, along with single-pane windows and a myriad of cracks and openings that would let the Michigan winter wind into the living area. No wonder it was cold!

There wasn’t a great deal they could do but to get through the winter the best they could and hope that spring would get there soon.

Spring eventually came – not as quickly as they hoped, but at least it came, and it brought with it the decision that if at all possible they wouldn’t be spending another winter in the place. But they decided to not be in a big hurry about finding something else. While for a number of reasons they were somewhat better off than other young couples with only a year of marriage behind them, their budget was not unlimited and they wanted to get the best deal they could.

The plan was still for Jeff to start managing the Amherst office of Harrington Oil at some point in the foreseeable future, so there was no point in looking right in Wychbold; they needed to find someplace a little more like halfway in between. The problem was that there really wasn’t much besides rural countryside between Wychbold and Amherst. As often as they drove back and forth between the two towns they knew there were few “For Sale” signs, and nothing on properties that seemed interesting after the briefest glance.

They weren’t in a huge hurry – after all, they could manage another winter in what they now occasionally called “The Icebox” if they had no other choice. However, as spring became the summer of 1960 they decided to spread their search a little. The first area that caught their eye was the town of Lawrence, which was halfway between Wychbold and Amherst but well to the north. It was not an impressive town; small and run-down, and not, they thought, the kind of place where they’d like to live.

They did more than just look for a house that summer. Along in June they went north to see Donna, who had decided to not go back to Meridian for the summer, no matter what her mother wanted. She had a good reason; things were progressing nicely with Frank Newton, the high school math teacher and basketball coach she’d met at Hughesville.

On that trip to Hughesville they met Frank for the first time. He seemed like a nice enough guy, if rather loud and full of himself like coaches tended to be. The four of them had dinner together, and spent some time sitting around Donna’s little house talking.

Since it was a weekend trip they couldn’t stay long, and were headed back downstate on Sunday afternoon. “I don’t know what it is about that guy,” Eunice commented to her husband almost before they were out of sight of Donna’s house. “But he makes me a little uncomfortable.”

“Me too,” Jeff agreed. “I can’t put my finger on it, but he’s no Eric, that’s for sure.”

“True, but you have to stop and think that Eric didn’t turn out to be very good for Donna in the end. Maybe this guy will do better.”

“You might have a point, but he still makes me uncomfortable. Eric and Donna, well, I guess that wasn’t meant to be. I have to admit Eric was the one who pulled the plug on the deal, but I think Donna was pushing him too hard and managed to push him farther than he wanted to go. I honestly don’t think he’s going to be getting married anytime soon, but I can see it happening with Donna and this Frank guy.”

“I can see it too,” she agreed. “And I wouldn’t be surprised to see her wearing a ring one of these days. It could be that she’s still pushing too hard. At least, she could be pushing herself too hard to make up for the way things ended with Eric.”

“Right, and that scares me a little. I don’t know how to say it, but Donna and this Frank guy just don’t strike me as a good fit. She tends to be a little intense, and she gets down on herself easily. On the other hand, since Frank is a basketball coach he ought to know how to go for a rebound. I hope Donna will take her time and think it over.”

“I’d like to think she will, but I’m more than a little afraid she won’t. It’s just too bad that she and Eric weren’t able to work things out. I think it’s mostly both their faults that they didn’t, but I think Eric had more to do with it than she did.”

“I’d guess you’re right. Let’s face it, Eric is a good and loyal friend, and he tries to treat his friends right. He said he didn’t think he’d be good for Donna in the long run, and I guess he had to deal with it in his own way.”

“I wonder what’s happening with him, anyway. We just haven’t heard much.”

“Beats me,” Jeff shrugged. “I hope he’s enjoying himself.”

In fact they hadn’t heard a great deal from Eric, only a handful of letters, one every six weeks or two months or so. The letters didn’t say much, and had sometimes been very brief, especially over the winter. He seemed to be staying busy, and he’d said a couple times that he’d made some friends who were also interested in mountain climbing – and there were plenty of them to climb in easy driving distance. Two or three times Eric had come right out and said that he and a friend had climbed this mountain or that one – the names meant nothing to Jeff and Eunice – and that they’d even done some of that climbing over the course of the winter. From what they could tell he was doing more climbing now that the weather was better. Somehow they’d expected that, but still, it seemed strange to hear so little from a guy they’d once known so well.

“It’s been over a year since he left,” she commented. “Maybe when he comes back in another year he’ll at least have some stories for us.”

“I hope so,” Jeff agreed. “But I’ll tell you the truth, I’m actually beginning to wonder if we’re going to see him when he gets back. He has some stuff stashed in Mom and Dad’s attic, but beyond that he doesn’t have a home to come home to. I mean, you can’t count his brother.”

She shook her head. “You’re right of course, but it’s really sad when you think of it that way.”

As always, mid-summer was a slow time around Harrington Oil, and Eunice had enough time at the bank to be able to take a week’s vacation, which, by timing it around the Fourth of July, they were able to stretch out to eleven days. It was over a year since they’d been married, but a second honeymoon trip sounded good to them.

It didn’t take them much deciding on what to do for a vacation; Jeff had Eunice’s father give the Triumph a mechanical once-over just on general principles. Once he pronounced it sound, Jeff and Eunice washed and waxed it to get rid of some of the winter’s grime that had accumulated in spite of it being under a tarp. As soon as they could get away, they packed a couple bags where they could in the car and hit the road.

This time they decided to follow Eunice’s suggestion of the year before to do the Blue Ridge Parkway along with Shenandoah National Park and the Smokey Mountains. It was a good trip; they saw a lot of interesting scenery and Jeff took plenty of slides with the Leica. Since they were tight on time, they went east on the Turnpikes; the Ohio Turnpike seemed dull but they zipped over it quickly, while the Pennsylvania Turnpike with its sweeping curves was fun in the Triumph. The National Parks and the Blue Ridge Parkway were everything they expected of them, and even all the two lane roads they had to follow to get back to Michigan were interesting in the little car.

It was a good vacation and they spent the last part of it talking about where they could go with the Triumph the next year.

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