Return of the Croat
Friday, May 11, 2007
That morning the honeysuckle had burst fully into bloom. The yellow jackets were in their hay day.
Fridays were suddenly uneventful. They were now reserved for dishes and laundry. It had already been one month since Collette’s final day at the church office. And in some ways it now seemed as though it had been years since she had been employed there. Yet there were times when it still seemed like only yesterday that she had just ended working at the bank, although it had already been four years ago. Time was a funny thing.
In even less exciting news of the day, Collette cut herself some bangs again, randomly snipping off four and five-inch lengths of hair into the bathroom sink until she had something similar to what had been growing on her head the previous summer.
And Puck’s eyes were still that same dark blue-gray. Just like the North Atlantic. Collette wondered if they were eventually going to change color.
Sadly, Carrie had news that day that Thor was leaving to return to his beloved Croatia. He was the last of the foreigners to return to foreign soils after three years of studying in America. It was the end of yet another era.
Collette recalled three summers earlier when Thor and his Serbian pal had attended their Fourth of July gathering with the Combs, Hobcoggins, Silverspoons, and Relevance.
“Yeah, he was fresh off the boat then,” Carrie laughed.
Indeed he was. He was still adjusting the the American culture. That was back in the day when he thought attending a Cardinal’s baseball game with Carrie and Elizabeth was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him in his life. He had been a fan ever since.
It had been humorous watching him and his pal mingling with American strangers during an American holiday, watching the kids shoot off fireworks, and then attending the big display that night. Although the fireworks display had been somewhat ruined that night. During their walk from where they had parked the car to their seats on the green, they had witnessed the after effect of a serious accident – a teenager had been speeding through the subdivision streets and had hit a father walking his baby son in a stroller across the road. That was an image Collette never wanted to see again. Thankfully, both the father and the baby had survived the terrible accident.
Despite the frightful event of the night, they were eventually able to find their seats and enjoy watching Thor’s and his pal’s reactions to the fireworks display.
Thor would be missed.
In happier news that Friday, Mom had taken the kids caving with the Englishs. And Rose was sitting on cloud nine because she had decided to take only one art class over the summer instead of four classes.
OLeif returned that evening to mow the front lawn and the weed patches and evil dandelions in the back.
Puck woke up for a midnight snack making faces somewhat resembling a very drunk Mickey Rooney. Whenever there was a question of food, he would usually become hysterical. Collette had to remind him many times every day that no one would be depriving him of all six of his meals.