Monday, September 27, 2010

M&R: You, His Family.

Though sitting in first class, Caroline and her escort deplaned last.

She’d sent word to her boyfriend that her hair was black now. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Paul about how the ordeal of the last few months aged her. Nor about the scars. Nor about the limp. What remained of the woman separated from her true love for so long was her 5 feet eleven inches of confidence and nervous excitement, a fine figure, long hair no longer dyed blonde and her love of the man who had moved Heaven and earth to get her back.

Federal agents met her in the corridor before the gate. Her escort with hand on his gun took extreme caution in identifying them before relinquishing Caroline to their care.

“Missy, I don’t know who you are, but your fiancĂ©e must have some serious political clout. We’ve turned everyone out of the terminal except for him and a few others.”

Caroline’s nervous excitement turned to joyous tears.

“What? No, he’s teaches classical studies at a junior college. I‘m an archaeologist. We aren‘t anyone.”

But, apparently Paul Lusigan was more than just a classicist. Caroline remembered that Paul was tall, but she never saw him wear his 6’2” so well. He wore a military uniform, a National Guard dress uniform she’d discover like his brothers. His salt and pepper hair now seemed mostly gray. Caroline gasped at how distinguished he looked. She glanced at his dimpled chin, expecting to see him biting his lip or smiling his slim smile. Instead, his grin was toothy. He was tan! He looked grayer because his hair was sun streaked. He was broader across the chest than she remembered. She failed to notice the pistol on his hip.

Caroline abandoned her escort. They peered around skittishly. She skipped into Paul’s arms to hide her limp. She laughed nervously, tears raced down her unkempt face. He returned her hug. When he went to kiss her blistered lips she wouldn’t let him go.

“You shouldn’t have done this. Now, they know who you are.” Caroline whispered glancing nervously about.

Paul smiled sweetly. “Yeah, it’s time they knew who you are.” Stepping aside, he continued, “Let me introduce my grandmother Maeve Lusigan Sienna and my Great Aunt Roxanne Scamander. Ladies, I’d like to introduce Caroline Hale the woman who with your blessing I will marry.””

“Oh dearie!” Roxanne screamed and shuffled forward to hug her new granddaughter-in-law.

The younger woman took a startled step back and then rushed into Roxanne’s big bosomed embrace. Her pale drawn complexion turned red. Her tears flowed harder and sobs broke from her shallow chest. “There, there dearie. You are safe now.”

Caroline rested comfortable in the older woman’s arms for sometime before fighting back her sobs. Sniffling back her tears she apologized to “Madam Sienna” over Roxanne’s broad shoulders.

The grave dark haired woman stood at a distance. Her narrow eyes, glanced around the room predatorily both hands holding onto a tan leather bag, easily large enough to carry her gun. She waved away the apology with a black gloved hand. “Call me Grandmother. I keep hoping one of my granddaughters-in-laws will. “

“It’s not got going to happen.” the redhead giggled into Caroline’s ear.

“I’ll leave you three alone for a minute and go calm my brothers down. They are dying to meet you." Paul said.

“Everyone wanted to meet you, dearie! We will take it slow." Roxanne gushed in way of an explanation.

Caroline watched Paul stroll over to his “brothers” who huddled giddily on the other side of the terminal. One threw a false punch, while the other began to tease him about his “gorgeous girlfriend.” She laughed and then turned to the older women. “How can I ever thank you?”

“When Paul and his older brother Deuce came to me all teary eyed, I was happy to help save the woman he loved.” Maeve pulled off a glove and a glacial white hand reached out to comfort the trembling girl still tucked in Roxanne’s left arm.

“How did you get me out of there?”

“We know people, dearie.” Roxanne told her with a wrinkle of her nose and a little squeeze on the girl’s shoulder.

“But, the government said they wouldn’t negotiate with terrorists. Did you pay a ransom?”

“Let’s just say, we negotiated.“ Maeve said rolling her black eyes as she preened her long blood-red nails. Her tongue poked mischievously around the inside of her mouth.

Caroline looked across the hallway, Paul gruffly got his brothers and cousins organized and quieted down. Her lower lip trembled a little. “I almost don’t recognize him.”

“He’s changed.” Maeve sighed pleasantly. “ It’s not that he didn’t love us or we him. He was just different from us. But, since you disappeared he’s rejoined us with a vengeance, he spends all his time with us. Deuce says, Paul never knew how much he needed family until he almost lost you, his family.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

M&R: A Rose by Any Other Name…

A couple of icebergs recently calved from the glacier to the east, dotted the south end of the sound. Here in the little bay were the city park lay the green water was calm. The sand was white and the spruces lining the south and north sides tall and dark. Towering over the whole scene was Devil’s Thumb and the Coastal Range of Southeast Alaska

“Shep gets so silly." Roxanne laughed

Maeve’s handsome big shouldered brunette son entertained his equippiers with a story punctuated by the vigorous shaking of his hands, the rattling of his head, swaying of his torso, pumping of his legs and the squirming of his bare feet in the white sand. He wore a light blue ribbon pinned to his light short sleeve shirt. Naturally his brothers chose the same sort of ribbon. His blonde brother Nome leaned back and let out a howl in appreciation of the story.

Beyond them at the water’s edge their children played and waded. One of the littler boys found a stick, waved it over his head while calling for the family pets. Big friendly Jake raced that way with big ears flopping and tail wagging. The stick flew through the autumn air and splashed into the still water. Gizmo chased after her mate, but her shorter legs put her at a disadvantage. She slipped behind Shep just as he leaned back to howl himself, stumbled a little and tripped over her. He fell on this back and butt in the damp white sand. Then a shower of wine rained down upon him from the glass he’d held at the time. Shep was the first person in the family to laugh. His brothers good naturedly pulled him back to his feet.

His, father John A. Sienna and Uncle Stan X. Scamander rushed over to roughly check on him. His father had chosen a light blue ribbon, hence his sons’ choices. Stan to make it fair picked pink. Consequently, Stan’s daughters chose pink.

Maeve smiled with delight; because Roxanne laughed so hard her rosy features were now red. Roxanne always worried so much when the little ones played near the water, regardless of how much Maeve assured her everything would be fine.

“Oh how awful!” her sister-in-law gasped between guffaws with tears running down her face. “Shep could have been hurt!” At which point Roxanne’s buxom son-in-law repeated the pratfall for those that had missed it. Maeve thought Roxanne would fall over she was laughing so hard. A couple of the men did. “Well!” Roxanne sniffled, and then smiled foolishly at her best friend. “Let’s go see what names people have suggested.”

Big ruddy Roxanne wore a blue ribbon because she just knew her step-daughter really wanted a boy. Maeve understandably wore neither upon the white blouse that looked so unnatural on her. But wearing white on picnics was a Sienna family tradition.

“Let’s see,” Roxanne said looking at the suggested “Boy” name penciled up on the poster inside the pavilion. “John, Jack, Jon, Zane, Ian, Johann, Jean, Renaker Duvall…” She turned her coppery crowned head to look at her sister-in-law with a questioning glance.

“Well it’s different.” Maeve suggested weakly. She’d gotten one of the grandchildren to print it for her.

“We haven’t had a Johnny in a while.” Roxanne pointed out as she wrote it on the list.

The next poster on the wall was an enlarged photograph of Shep with a tiny baby. The caption underneath said. “Our bundle of joy came early!” Both women laughed at the joke.

“I sure fell for it!” Roxanne admitted with a chuckle.

“I know.” Maeve reminded her. “I was the one you were screaming at when you got the email.”

“You screamed when I read it to you.” Roxanne retorted with another chuckle and pleased smile.

“True.” Maeve admitted. The blush that rose to her cheeks produced a pleasant pinkness like the affect that red algae has on the pools of liquid ice during the spring high in the ice fields of Alaska. “My husband knew immediately that it was Nome with his hair dyed brown, holding one of his own children for the gag!”

On the “Girl’s” list it was, “Agatha, Angie, Agnes, Agave, Ness, Inez, Augusta, Aggie and Princess Xenia …” the last in the same hand as Renaker Duval. Roxanne smiled and penciled in Agatha again because she thought Maeve liked the name or maybe she thought that contrary to family impression, little Agatha was Maeve’s favorite granddaughter. Next stop was the weight/height pool. Most of the family bet for large and long.

“Any suggestions?” Roxanne asked as she pulled a couple of bills from her large leather handbag.

Several of their adult children and grandchildren paused to hear the response. Maeve just smiled and gave her best friend a wink. Roxanne laughed as she selected a leaner child. They both turned then to look towards the beach. They smiled at everyone else’s inquisitiveness. Smiles framed by bright red lips still livened their fair faces as they turned to watch the children play and admire the incredible skyline. Shep, the father to be at any moment, saw his mother and mother-in-law smiling at him. He adored his mother. Everyone adored his mother-in-law Roxanne. His giddiness might be attributed to the wine on an empty stomach, but everyone who knew Shep knew it was just excitement about the baby, delight in being around the whole family and love for his very pregnant wife. With his usual wide toothy grin he strutted over to the two best friends his broad shoulders sway with each step. His blonde brother’s fond gaze followed him.

“Hi mom.” He announced to everyone with a big beaming smile.

He grabbed Maeve up in his muscular hairy arms crushing her crisp unwrinkled blouse and lifted her off her feet and kissed her squarely on her blood red lips. She pretended to hate that, much to everyone else’s delight. Roxanne hugged her son-in-law with just as much as enthusiasm and left heavy lipstick on his cheek.

“What was that for?” Maeve asked as she shook her straight black hair into place and whipped the tears of laughter from her glacial cheeks.

“I just wanted to give you a kiss and tell you both how wonderful you are.” Maeve black eyes and her best friend’s green ones glanced towards Shep’s father to see if he’d instigated this as he often did when the boys were little. Their suspicion didn’t faze the handsome young man at all. “You are wonderful grandmothers to our children and wonderful mothers to all of us.” He said with a wave of his palm up open hand that indicated his wife, brothers, and sister-in-laws. Then he simple stood smiling. “Mom, my wife and I” he glanced into the interior of the pavilion where Roxanne’s very pregnant stepdaughter sat. She pulled her sisters closer in around her. Shep’s brother stepped up behind him and laid a hairy hand on his shoulder for moral support. Shep’s broad shoulder visibly fell in relief. He started again softy, “We are thinking about not using family names for the baby. Would dad be disappointed? ” He bite his lower lip and stepped back into his brothers arms.

Maeve and Roxanne exchanged a pleasant look. The red-head nodded for black haired Maeve to proceed. “I know your father would like that idea. “

“Really!” Shep gasped with a drop of his jaw and a stumble backward, so his blonde brother actually had to hold him up.

“Yes, dear!”

The two brothers nodded reassurances to their wives and after kissing their mother and mother-in-law again hurried off to them

“Okay everyone.” Roxanne announced loudly. “Maeve is going to scry the sex of the baby. “

Roxanne and her step-daughters gathered up blankets and their bed folks helped the lady of the hour to lay down in comfort.

“Dearie, Maeve will need your wedding band.”

Maeve pulled a length of tread from her bag. With Roxanne’s aid she secured the ring to it.

Maeve stretched her arm over her daughter-in-law and started the ring moving in a circle above the younger woman. The extended family gathered around and once they all quieted down, Maeve explained that if the ring started swinging lengthwise it would be a boy, crosswise a girl. From the corner of her dark eyes she could see money being pulled out of wallets. A breeze blew in from the glacier opposite the park. But the day remained warm and the crowd hot with excitement. The breeze elongated the circling ring long ways; a mumble came from the crowd. The breeze eventually led the ring to swing back and forth from head to toe. Cries of “A boy!”, “A boy!” erupted from the kinfolk. Money exchanged hands.

“Wait!” she called pleasantly

The pendulum began to make smaller sweeps and elongated crosswise, until it was moving from one hip to the other. Some suggested it didn’t work. Everyone was looking at the family matriarch when she looked up from her work.

“Sure it worked. Twins, one of each.”

Everyone one screamed. Cries of “What are their names? What are their names?”

Shep joyously helped his wife up. Nome came to his side.

“Augustus and Joanna”

The crowd gasped. Repeating the names to themselves and those around them. Then the laughter and applause began. John A. Sienna beamed.

Monday, September 6, 2010

TLtS: My Beloved Turned Away

I recently read Geoffrey Dennis’ moving essay A Song of Desire (Parabola Fall 2010). Dennis suggests, “Creation is one great ballad of longing and God is the One who sings they lyric in endless variations.” He goes on to point out that His famous question in the garden “Where are you?” is not the rhetorically question of a parent who knows perfectly well what is his wayward children are up too. Rather it is in the second person singular. It is the plaintive plea of a lover who knows that the “one” is avoiding him. Somewhere, someone said that God created the universe in answer to the prayers of the unmanifest. What if Dennis is right? God created us to fill a hole in His heart. Repeatedly the Bible talks of the Almighty’s love for us, His heartbreak and anger when we turn away and His jealousy. Jealousy? Not the sign of paternal love, but rather of a heartbroken lover. And yet time and time again God forgives, God cannot resist forgive us. We are His addiction.

As of late I know this loneliness, this ache, a good friend has turned away from me. I know heartbreak and the desire to forgive. I know the frustration of trying and hoping for friendship. But, I have acquaintances and a family. How much more so must be the anguish of the Almighty who has sacrificed His only Son for our love.

Of course, Dennis references the Song of Solomon; an allegory for God’s love for us.

Let me see your form
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely


These words might be mistaken for the words of a loving Father, but surely, the conversation about “twin fawns” would convince anyone the “Groom” is a lover not a father.

And once more the plaintive cry “But my beloved had turned away and had gone!”

Thursday, September 2, 2010

M&R: A Rose by Any Other Name…

A couple of icebergs recently calved from the glacier to the east, dotted the south end of the sound. Here in the little bay where the city park lay the green water was calm. The sand was white and the spruces lining the south and north sides tall and dark. Towering over the whole scene was Devil’s Thumb and the Coastal Range of Southeast Alaska

“Shep gets so silly.’ Roxanne laughed

Maeve’s handsome big-shouldered brunette son entertained his equippiers with a story punctuated by the vigorous shaking of his hands, the rattling of his head, swaying of his torso, pumping of his legs and the squirming of his bare feet in the white sand. He wore a light blue ribbon pinned to his light short sleeve shirt. Naturally his brothers chose the same sort of ribbon. His blonde brother Nome leaned back and let out a howl in appreciation of the story.

Beyond them at the water’s edge their children played and waded. One of the littler boys found a stick, waved it over his head while calling for the family pets. Big friendly Jake raced that way with big ears flopping and tail wagging. The stick flew through the autumn air and splashed into the still water. Gizmo chased after her mate, but her shorter legs put her at a disadvantage. She slipped behind Shep just as he leaned back to howl himself, stumbled a little and tripped over her. He fell on this back and butt in the damp white sand. Then a shower of wine rained down upon him from the glass he’d held at the time. Shep was the first person in the family to laugh.
His brothers good naturedly pulled him back to his feet. His, father John A. Sienna and Uncle Stan X. Scamander rushed over to roughly check on him. His father had chosen a light blue ribbon, hence his sons’ choices. Stan to make it fair picked pink. Consequently, Stan’s daughters chose pink.

Maeve smiled with delight; because Roxanne laughed so hard her rosy features were now red. Roxanne always worried so much when the little ones played near the water, regardless of how much Maeve assured her everything would be fine.

“Oh how awful!” her sister-in-law gasped between guffaws with tears running down her face. “Shep could have been hurt!” At which point Roxanne’s buxom son-in-law repeated the pratfall for those that had missed it. Maeve thought Roxanne would fall over she was laughing so hard. A couple of the men did. “Well!” Roxanne sniffled, and then smiled foolishly at her best friend. “Let’s go see what names people have suggested.”

Big ruddy Roxanne wore a blue ribbon because she just knew her step-daughter really wanted a boy. Maeve understandably wore neither upon the white blouse that looked so unnatural on her. But wearing white on picnics was a Seinna family tradition.

“Let’s see,” Roxanne said looking at the suggested “Boy” name penciled up on the poster inside the pavilion. “John, Jack, Jon, Zane, Ian, Johann, Jean, Renaker Duvall…” She turned her coppery crowned head to look at her sister-in-law with a questioning glance.

“Well it’s different.” Maeve suggested weakly. She’d gotten one of the grandchildren to print it for her.

“We haven’t had a Johnny in a while.” Roxanne pointed out as she wrote it on the list.
The next poster on the wall was an enlarged photograph of Shep with a tiny baby. The caption underneath said. “Our bundle of joy came early!” Both women laughed at the joke.

“I sure fell for it!” Roxanne admitted with a chuckle.

“I know.” Maeve reminded her. “I was the one you were screaming at when you got the email.”

“You screamed when I read it to you.” Roxanne retorted with another chuckle and pleased smile.

“True.” Maeve admitted. The blush that rose to her cheeks produced a pleasant pinkness like the affect that red algae has on the pools of liquid ice during the spring high in the ice fields of Alaska. “My husband knew immediately that it was Nome with his hair dyed brown, holding one of his own children for the gag!”

On the “Girl’s” list it was, “Agatha, Angie, Agnes, Agave, Ness, Inez, Augusta, Aggie and Princess Xenia …” the last in the same hand as Renaker Duval. Roxanne smiled and penciled in Agatha again because she thought Maeve liked the name or maybe she thought that contrary to family impression, little Agatha was Maeve’s favorite granddaughter. Next stop was the weight/height pool. Most of the family bet for large and long.

“Any suggestions?” Roxanne asked as she pulled a couple of bills from her large leather handbag.
Several of their adult children and grandchildren paused to hear the response. Maeve just smiled and gave her best friend a wink. Roxanne laughed as she selected a leaner child. They both turned then to look towards the beach. They smiled at everyone else’s inquisitiveness. Smiles framed by bright red lips still livened their fair faces as they turned to watch the children play and admire the incredible skyline. Shep, the father to be at any moment, saw his mother and mother-in-law smiling at him. He adored his mother. Everyone adored his mother-in-law Roxanne. His giddiness might be attributed to the wine on an empty stomach, but everyone who knew Shep knew it was just excitement about the baby, delight in being around the whole family and love for his very pregnant wife. With his usual wide toothy grin he strutted over to the two best friends his; broad shoulders sway with each step. His blonde brother’s fond gaze followed him.

“Hi mom.” He announced to everyone with a big beaming smile.

He grabbed Maeve up in his muscular hairy arms crushing her crisp unwrinkled blouse and lifted her off her feet and kissed her squarely on her blood red lips. She pretended to hate that, much to everyone else’s delight. Roxanne hugged her son-in-law with just as much as enthusiasm and left heavy lipstick on his cheek.

“What was that for?” Maeve asked as she shook her straight black hair into place and whipped the tears of laughter from her glacial cheeks.

“I just wanted to give you a kiss and tell you both how wonderful you are.”

Maeve black eyes and her best friend’s green ones glanced towards Shep’s father to see if he’d instigated this as he often did when the boys were little. Their suspicion didn’t faze the handsome young man at all.

“You are wonderful grandmothers to our children and wonderful mothers to all of us.” He said with a wave of his palm up open hand that indicated his wife, brothers, and sister-in-laws. Then he simple stood smiling. “Mom, my wife and I” he glanced into the interior of the pavilion where Roxanne’s very pregnant stepdaughter sat. She pulled her sisters closer in around her. Shep’s brother Nome stepped up behind him and laid a hairy hand on his shoulder for moral support. Shep’s broad shoulder visibly fell in relief. He started again softy, “We are thinking about not using family names for the baby. Would dad be disappointed? ” He bite his lower lip and stepped back into his brother's arms.

Maeve and Roxanne exchanged a pleasant look. The red-head nodded for black haired Maeve to proceed. “I know your father would like that idea. “

“Really!” Shep gasped with a drop of his jaw and a stumble backward, so his blonde brother actually had to hold him up.

“Yes, dear!”

The two brothers nodded reassurances to their wives and after kissing their mother and mother-in-law again hurried off to them

“Okay everyone.” Roxanne announced loudly. “Maeve is going to scry the sex of the baby.“

Roxanne and her step-daughters gathered up blankets and their bed folks helped the lady of the hour to lay down in comfort.

“Dearie, Maeve will need your wedding band.”

Maeve pulled a length of tread from her bag. With Roxanne’s aid she secured the ring to it.
Maeve stretched her arm over her daughter-in-law and started the ring moving in a circle above the younger woman. The extended family gathered around and once they all quieted down, Maeve explained that if the ring started swinging lengthwise it would be a boy, crosswise a girl. From the corner of her dark eyes she could see money being pulled out of wallets. A breeze blew in from the glacier opposite the park. But the day remained warm and the crowd hot with excitement. The breeze elongated the circling ring long ways; a mumble came from the crowd. The breeze eventually led the ring to swing back and forth from head to toe. Cries of “A boy!”, “A boy!” erupted from the kinfolk. Money exchanged hands.

“Wait!” she called pleasantly

The pendulum began to make smaller sweeps and elongated crosswise, until it was moving from one hip to the other. Some suggested it didn’t work. Everyone was looking at the family matriarch when she looked up from her work.

“Sure it worked. Twins, one of each.”

Everyone one screamed. Then some cried “What are their names? What are their names?”

Shep joyously helped his wife up. Nome came to his side. “Augustus and Joanna”

The crowd gasped. Repeating the names to themselves and those around them. Then the laughter and applause began.

Shep's father, John A. Seinna beamed.