Tuesday 19 September 2017

Sarah carries no baggage


Shawn and her lovely daughter. (Shawn is the one being crushed by the much larger woman to the left).

I was in Waitrose when this perplexed woman approached me asking, "Stephen...?" which is my real name.

I tentatively responded with, "Shawn...?" (which has always been her real name), then we embraced for the first time in around 40 years.

I was buying provisions for our trip to Dorset the next day, and asked her WHY THE FUCK she didn't tell me she was coming to Bath  - from her native America - after all these years, and she disarmed me by saying that she was unsure if I ever wanted to see her again.

I telephoned Jackie (AKA H.I.) to say I was going for a drink with Shawn and Sarah, and off we went. I was so pleased to see here again and I was so pleased to meet Sarah (a lawyer), who I fed juicy tit-bits of information about us both from before she was born, out of earshot from her mother.

The highlight of the brief encounter was when I informed Shawn that my sister told me I could be Jewish, judging from from her genealogical research. She reacted by leaping to her feet, clasping my face in both hands and kissing me as if I had just returned from death. She had always tried to convince me that I was Jewish like her and, after all this time, any dubious justification was gratefully accepted.

I hope I will see them both again before I kick the bucket. I unconditionally love them.

It is a real shame that her oldest daughter hates me for splitting her up from her marriage to her English husband, but I really don't blame her for that. I sometimes hate myself for the same reason.

20 comments:

  1. Ah, old loves. It's nice to see them again and still have lots to talk about.

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    1. I met up a few months ago with an old boyfriend. We had a really nice time and were honest about life and where it took us.

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    2. I normally do not like to meet up with anyone from the past if the connection has already been severed, so I am always pleasantly surprised if it all goes well if I do.

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  2. I spent the evening with my old girlfriend from college days last Sunday (Lady M was there too). She has a house about 2 miles away.

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  3. A while ago Shawn asked what time you go to the pub and expressed some concern about recognising you. I took it that she was either already in the UK or coming. Perhaps you missed it and because you didn't reply is why she thought you might not want to see her. I almost replied myself but thought you would go ape shit if I did.

    I am surprised you didn't all go out for supper, with H.I., as it was 40 years, or cook supper for them yourself. Not much about Shawn here but more about Sarah except for the eureka Jewish moment.

    Nice photo of them. They look totally American, big smile and clean.

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    1. I deleted the entire post, so didn't reply. She recognised me and later said that I still had nice eyes, but didn't comment about the rest of me. I don't see how you could have answered that question in any case. I mean, you are not my P.A.

      My sister just thought that our father's roots were Eastern European Jewish because of one thing about there being leather-workers in the history. She just made up the rest. I don't know if we were Jewish or not and I don't really care one way or the other. Our family name is old West Country or Wiltshire, so there is not much evidence of it.

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    2. I would have made an educated guess

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    3. Today, any time between now and the Archers. If the The Archers has started then she's gonna be too damn late.

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    4. Spot on. The Archers is my red line.

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  4. Wow. That's something that makes a life interesting.

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  5. I just cannot believe you are an Archers listener - doesn't fit in with my image of you at all.

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    1. It seems I do not fit into anyone's image of me, including my own.

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  6. I am just emerging from the fog of re-entry, so have been unable to comment until today. Sara and I both ranked getting drunk with you as the best evening of our trip! Sadly, there is a lot that I do not remember, and I'm not sure she is willing to fill me in on the details. I don't know how I'm going to keep her from sharing it all with her siblings.
    As regards that marriage, it never should have happened in the first place and was easy to dislodge. (Not that I mean to insult your romantic prowess!) xoxo

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    1. Welcome home. I really enjoyed it too, but it didn't go on for long enough. Actually it probably went on too long for you, judging by how much you cannot remember. My excuse tao your ex was that if it was not me, it would have been someone else, and I think that may be true, even if I sometimes don't believe it.

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