He Needed To See The World

“No one can develop every side of themselves.  Life is so rich.”  --Hans Fallada aka Rudolf Wilhelm Frederich Ditzen, EVERY MAN DIES ALONE
I was surprised when Lottie Powell called me a while back to inform me that she was living in Alaska.  I guess her firefighter husband got an offer he couldn’t refuse.  She wrote me a self-created postcard.  I loved the images she pieced together.  Lottie wrote the following words:
May 12, 1993
Hi Michael!
We are still in Fairbanks, Alaska!  Since I spoke to you on the telephone things have improved.  The weather has taken an upswing.  It should be near 70 degrees this weekend.  One of my sisters is coming to visit in June…and I have a couple of people to visit with.  We may head out to Denali National Park this weekend.  It is approximately three hours from here and we hope to see Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Moose, etc.  Reida will love it.  She is finally feeling better.  A month of being sick and three trips to the doctor she is my little happy camper again. 
I hope you have a wonderful trip to New York.  Don’t forget to send a postcard.  I need wall art here. 
Thank you for listening to me on a down day. 
Say hello to Alan for us.  Take care.  Always,  Lottie.
I was excited to see the movie LOST IN YONKERS.  I saw the play On-Broadway a couple of years ago and the actress, Mercedes Ruehl, won the TONY Award for the play.  She is also playing the lead role in the movie.  Alan and I saw it together.  
It was funny (an ideal comedy-drama written by Neil Simon).  The story is set in 1942 in the Bronx area of New York City.   Alan attended the Bronx High School of Science, so the story meant more to me.   The story starts off as Evelyn Kurnitz has just died following a lengthy illness.  Her husband, Eddie Kurnitz, needs to take a job as a traveling salesman to pay off the medical bills incurred.  Eddie decides to ask his stern and forbidding mother, from whom he is slightly estranged, if his two early-teen sons, Jay and Arty (whom their Grandma calls by their full given names, Yakob and Arthur), can live with her and their Aunt Bella Kurnitz in Yonkers.  His mother refuses at first but reluctantly agrees after Bella threatens to leave her if the boys aren't allowed to stay…
Dorothy Rua wrote to me once again using a country life setting photo card which looked ideal for ‘tea for two’.  The other card depicted a young boy relaxing on the railroad tracks with an umbrella and a globe which clearly seemed to imply that ‘he needed to see the world’. 

Dear Michael,
What I didn’t realize until I found myself sitting across from you on Saturday was just how much I needed to be with you.   Throughout the past four or five months I felt myself slipping.  Slipping into one of those dreaded pods, losing touch with the real Dorothy again.  I’d been struggling to find that pilot light so I could get some of my fire back.  Then you came…
I want to THANK YOU again for lunch.  It was such a treat.  The food was really good and the wine was excellent.  I’ll always “remember my first time” at CHEZ PANISS, especially because I shared it with you.
I so enjoyed the time we were together and I’m glad it rained.  It seemed to make the day even more special.  Don’t know if I can say the same for those parking meters!
I can’t begin to tell you how much your PARIS 1953 card, your verbal explanation of it and your written words, meant to me.  I didn’t say much at the time because I was afraid I’d reveal more of my thoughts than I should.  Your thoughtfulness always brings out strong feelings in me.  How do I tell you how much I appreciate you?
Oh Monday morning a coworker looked at me and said, “You are absolutely glowing.   What did you do this weekend?”
I mentioned the different things I did throughout the weekend and then she asked, “Who or what has given you that glow?”
I met Jan for a drink that same evening after work and she asked the same questions, the answer, of course, was your company.
Anyway, I’d love to have enough time to start that book.  I’d like to have time to read “VOX”. 
By the way, I’m taking it on my weekend cruise.  That’s right, Rosemarie convinced me I HAD to go.  She found this great deal for the two of us.  Leave on the 20thof May and return Monday (her Birthday).  I asked her “How can I fly to L.A. and not see Michael?”
She knows how important you are to me, but I know a few hours with youy aren’t what I want.  We aren’t going to be there very long and when I come down to spend time with you I want the whole weekend.  As you said in your card, I can spend time walking on the beach while you’re at work, enjoying time together when you’re free.   And as you said there’s always GEOFFREY’s restaurant in Malibu to share.
My friend, Jan, just bought a second home in Pismo Beach and she wants me to go down with her for a weekend sometime.  First question I asked is “How close is it to Marina del Rey? 
Love, Dorothy
I find myself reading and trying to interpret Dorothy’s thoughts in-between her sentences.  She’s not hard to read, or is she?
Listening is an effort that ages the face, makes the neck muscles ache, and stiffens the eyelids looking fixedly at the speaker…not only listening, but interpreting.
--COLETTE
THE PURE AND THE IMPURE