Sun City Dominoes & Grapefruit Trees

Friday, October 7, 2005

As it turned out, Thursday evening, Eve had come over to the house for Carrie to color her hair, and then they had watched “The Haunting.” And Kitts had called Carrie, Wednesday night. Apparently she loved being married, loved their apartment, loved school… And they had become fans of college football, going over to the aunt’s and uncle’s house to watch in the evenings. Collette could just see it – Kitts banging out a couple of concertos while Relevance finished his afternoon classes. And then she would listen to opera while preparing gourmet soufflés, and would then crack jokes about differential equations over dinner, once Relevance came home. And then Kitts would write papers on advanced music theory and theater, Shakespeare, while Relevance practiced a Spanish tune on his classical guitar… It was too funny, but it suited them.

It reminded Collette of Mom’s and Dad’s experience as a newly married couple. Dad was already at a good job as an electrical engineer, down in Phoenix, Arizona. Every Sunday afternoon they would drive out to Sun City to see Great Uncle Fran and Great Aunt Mildred where she would prepare great meals, and pick grape fruit and oranges from the trees out back and squeeze fresh juice. And they would all read old Reader’s Digest on the back porch and play Sun City dominoes. Talk about the life. Mom said they had never experienced more peaceful times than while there. She and Dad often talked about those golden days, early on. In fact, Frances had even been named after Uncle Fran. Collette remembered visiting their house when they had vacationed in Arizona, shortly before Uncle Fran passed away. She remembered Rose trying to pick up a cactus plant in the front of their condo, and Dad having to remove each cactus needle with a pair of tweezers before dinner. She remembered seeing the grape fruit and orange trees out back, and vaguely remembered Uncle Fran; he was a nice man. And he loved harassing Aunt Mildred for the fun of it. She could also hazily recall the inside of their home. It had been a pleasant time there.