The Assertive Cancer Patient

Mother Love

This, of course, is what the trip was all about: Spending time with Younger Son.

Jacqueline took this shot of the two of us in the New York subway.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A New York 'Slice': Jeanne

Not my most flattering photo, but you can tell I'm enjoying the pizza! This was the best pizza I think I have ever eaten--but I may have to order a pizza from Pagliacci (our favorite Seattle pizza) tonight to compare.

A taste test.

But they'll never deliver just one slice, and I'm not sure I want a whole pizza when I'm home alone. The dogs are NOT allowed pizza, although GB, Younger Son's dog, would eat it. Not sure about Connie, he's not such a chow-hound as GB.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A New York 'Slice': John

What to say about John? He was a great host. He's fun to talk to, and fun to hang out with, and he laughs (gently) at the way Jacqueline and I talk nonstop when we are together.

Love the guy.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A New York 'Slice': Jacqueline

Jacqueline's pizza had lots of garlic. She thought she might have a second slice, but one proved to be enough.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A New York 'Slice': Younger Son

On Saturday, John and Jacqueline took us to Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn to poke through the used clothing stores. Younger Son had decided that he wanted a black fedora to complete his look, so he searched for that while Jacq. and I looked for clothes to remake.

Once we got hungry, they took us to their favorite pizza place to have a slice for lunch.

I couldn't resist posting these very candid photos.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Postcards From New York: II

Let me cut right to the chase and report that Younger Son said that the Friday he spent in New York City, mostly on his own, was the best day he had had in the PAST YEAR.

So that was the good news about New York.

Click on this link to see a photo of me standing in the same spot when I visited Jacqueline last Labor Day:

The One-Breasted Woman Fashion Show: Rebel1in8 Cotton Summer Cowl

Younger Son's Day
Younger Son dressed in the boots and black trench coat we bought him a couple of years ago at Value Village in Seattle (I think I paid $15 for the coat, don't remember what the boots cost). Then he stuffed his pockets with my camera, a subway map with post-a-note arrows added by Jacqueline, his cell phone, wallet, and subway card. Also a map of the route to the subway station that Jacqueline had drawn for him--wait, he left that behind in the apartment, and had to call me once to get directions.

He visited the Metropolitan Museum and also the Rubin, where John works. His trip included a stroll across Central Park to reach the Met, and he took lots of photos, which he will be posting on his Facebook site.

He met John and Jacqueline at the Rubin at the end of their work days, and they all came home together, stopping to get some groceries on the way.

Younger Son insisted on making dinner (he allowed me to help by cutting the cheese, and Jacqueline made the salad). YS made fettucini alfredo using the handmade noodles and some of the cheese that we bought at Swiss Village Bulk Foods in Ohio.

Then he gobbled down his dinner in less than 10 minutes and was out the door--he had made plans to see a high school friend from Seattle in a play at NYU. He said he was fine going by himself, so we just asked that he call as he was getting on the subway to come home and again when he got off the subway in Brooklyn.

My mother radar was on high alert--a woman who lives in Jacqueline's building was mugged inside the subway station in the middle of the day recently and had her arm broken--but he got back just fine, glowing with pride after his great day.

So we didn't see a Broadway play after all. Younger Son said he'd rather see his friend perform.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Postcards From New York: I

We arrived at Penn Station right on time at about 7:30 Thursday evening. Jacqueline managed to find us in the teaming ant colony that is the station (thanks to Younger Son's height and red hair), and we went home to Brooklyn on the subway with her.

The New York subways remind me of Tokyo's marvelous train system, except the stations and trains in Tokyo are cleaner, of course. Also, I don't think New York subways have signs in any other language than English. In Tokyo, you get Japanese, English, and sometimes Chinese.

Friday
Jacqueline and her husband John both had to work on Friday, but Younger Son and I had all sorts of plans for the day, starting with sleeping in.

We had gotten up by 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning to catch our 7 a.m. train out of Cleveland, and the twelve and a half hour journey down to New York was pretty tiring.

So, we slept late on Friday morning, but then as we were starting to get going, I realized that I didn't really want to go out and do anything. I wanted a lazy day.

Younger Son was perfectly fine with this; he got all duded up in his black boots and trench coat and headed out to do a couple of museums, armed with a subway map and cell phone, and I had the place to myself (except for the two cats, who were SURE I would feed them if they just kept meowing--no luck, sorry, kitty cats).

I spent most of the afternoon sprawled on J&J's bed, which they had given up to me, drinking coffee and reading The New Yorker. How cool to be reading The New Yorker IN NEW YORK, instead of in some doctor's waiting room, which is where I usually read it.

I managed to shower and dress by 6 p.m., when everyone arrived back at the apartment together: They had all met up at the Rubin, which is where John works.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

More Postcards From Ohio: VI

Our last stop of the day in Holmes County, Ohio, was at the Lehman's hardware store in Kidron.

I love hardware stores anyway, but this place is extraordinary.

The Amish don't use electricity, of course, and the store sells wood-burning stoves of all varieties--both for cooking and for heating.

One of my fantasies--for when I can no longer afford to stay in my expensive Seattle house--is to build a little cabin near the beach on the southwest Washington coast, say in Long Beach, and to have a wood-burning stove in the kitchen for cooking. Plus a microwave for when I'm in a hurry.

So I really enjoyed checking out all the stoves. Of course, these are expensive--something like $6,000. If I buy one, I'll find an old one somewhere for a few hundred dollars.

The store also sells any and every tool you could ever think of needing, canning supplies, furniture, books, oil lamps ... and then replacement parts for EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. In the lamp department, you can get every piece that goes into every size and style of oil lamps that they sell. So no reason to junk a lamp because you break the glass chimney.

Questions about the Amish and their way of life were swirling through my head at this point, so I bought a book of photos of Amish children. The book answered some of my questions: the Amish have seven children, on average, and marry young. Some 80 percent of the children remain within the Amish community when they grow up. This has led to a shortage of farmland to pass on to the next generation, so "working out" is becoming more common.

Greater contact with the outside world has lead to problems. Some young Amish were apparently arrested for selling drugs about 10 years ago.

The book paints what is probably an overly rosy picture of Amish life, but still, I find myself admiring this community. However, I suspect that the patriarchal aspects would fry me if I were a member.

Back to the hardware store: If it hadn't been the end of the day (I was tired), and if I hadn't been worried about having too much luggage to carry on the trip, I probably would have bought more--some hand-forged fireplace tools caught my eye. Also all the fabulous metal latches and handles for doors and cupboards--I need some of those for my bathroom.

And I would have liked one of the cooking knives (we vegetarians do a lot of chopping), but worried about airport security on the way home. How to explain that I could never get a knife of this quality for this price in Seattle, and that's why I wanted to carry it on the plane?

But I settled for a new rubber spatula to replace the cracked one (far left in the photo) I've been using at home, and a new wooden spoon, which is actually bamboo, not wood, and made in Taiwan. I paid $3.10 for the spatula, which is real rubber, not plastic, which doesn't feel right, and $2.20 for the spoon.

I would love to live within driving distance of this store.

Oh, the store also sells hats (all Amish males wear hats, down to boys of just 2 or 3), and Younger Son started his search for a black fedora here. I think he would look fabulous in the flat-crowned black hats Amish men wear, but he didn't want to go that far.

With his German heritage (one of my grandfathers, Herman Appell, was German) he looks like he'd fit right in.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

More Postcards From Ohio: V

I bought a bag of these fruit-shaped, fruit-flavored gum balls at Swiss Village Bulk Foods, because they were so colorful.

I intended to give them to a friend in Seattle as a gift, but the package broke during the trip home, so I put them out in one of my Japanese bowls.

We also bought some healthy (or "healthful," for the grammar police) foods, including wonderful cheese, at this great store. Younger Son wants to move to Ohio to be within driving distance of Swiss Village Bulk Foods.

What can I say? He's becoming a foodie. And that teenage appetite (he's still growing at age 17 and just a hair under 6 feet in height) plays a part, of course.

Read more about Swiss Village Bulk Foods: More Postcards From Ohio: I

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Home Again, Home Again

Younger Son and I arrived back in Seattle late Saturday night.

We caught a Delta flight from JFK that left New York at about 7:30 p.m. A direct flight, which was nice.

We were scheduled to arrive in Seattle at about 10:30 p.m., and we did land on time, but then waited on the runway for more than 45 minutes because of some kind of problem at the gates. This was frustrating, and the worst delay of the trip (Amtrak, in contrast, was on time for every one of the three separate trains we took--both departures and arrivals, right on time).

It was late, we were tired, and we still had to wait for baggage and then get a cab home. Because of the delay, we didn't get INTO the cab until five minutes before midnight.

I had the cab drop Younger Son at his dorm at Seattle U and then bring me home. It was a bit weird coming back to the house by myself, because the dogs weren't here either, only the cat.

I let myself in and puttered around a bit, making a big dish of scrambled eggs to eat in bed since I hadn't had any dinner, only soft drinks, juice, and crackers and cheese on the plane (all they serve, unless you want to shell out $8 or so, and there was only one vegetarian option on the "menu" anyway).

It felt strange going to bed without the dogs in the house. They usually sleep in my room, but they weren't coming back from the dog ranch until today.

This afternoon, I puttered around, sorting mail, deadheading flowers in the garden (the tulips have started blooming since I left home a week ago!), and washing up the piles of dirty dishes Older Son left for me.

This was NOT a happy moment, and I left him a voicemail telling him that I did not appreciate coming home to a messy kitchen left by a son who doesn't even live here. He apparently dropped by a couple of times, cooked himself a meal, and then left all the mess behind, including leaving my wok soaking in the sink with cooked-on food in it.

I'm trying not to read more into this behavior than 23-year-old carelessness, but I also suspect it's partly jealousy and sibling rivalry--even though he has refused to travel with me and his brother (or with me alone) since he was 15 or so.

Now, at about 5:30, both dogs are asleep on the rug at my feet (they get exhausted at the dog ranch, which is one of the reasons I board them there), Younger Son is off at the grocery store while his laundry runs, and I'm still in my robe.

I guess I'm happy to be home, but if you handed me an Amtrak ticket right this minute, I'd be off again in a flash.

Here are the posts about our trip, in order:

Train Travel

Train Movies

Train Memories I

Saturday's Departure

Postcards From the Empire Builder: I

Postcards From the Empire Builder: II

Postcards From the Empire Builder: III

Postcard From Chicago

Postcards From Ohio: I

Postcards From Ohio: II

More Postcards From Ohio: I

More Postcards From Ohio: II

More Postcards From Ohio: III

More Postcards From Ohio: IV

More Postcards From Ohio: V

More Postcards From Ohio: VI

Postcard From Pennsylvania

Postcards From New York: I

Postcards From New York: II

A New York 'Slice': Younger Son

A New York 'Slice': Jacqueline

A New York 'Slice': John

A New York 'Slice': Jeanne

Mother Love

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.