CHAPTER 4

LORRAINE AND GALEN

Rose stood and finished the last of her coffee, so looking forward to the day when she could call this house home.

She and Emily had been best friends since kindergarten. Rose started school a month late. Emily saw her in the lunch room, looking confused and with everyone ignoring her. Rose looked about ready to cry, so Emily walked over and introduced herself.

“Hi! My name is Emily. Think our seats are next to each other. Come with me. I'll show you.” Rose smiled at Emily and looked relieved that someone seemed to notice, and even care she was there. She was still scared and tears were at the surface. Emily showed Rose her seat at the table, indicated to Rose the way the bathrooms, described all the rules they had to follow, such as how they had to wash their hands, the place where the cubbies were with their names on them, and where to hang their coats and sweaters. Emily thought Rose looked so pretty in her blue jumper and her patent leather shoes and her hair in braids. Wonder if Mommy will buy me a pair of shoes like Rose's, Emily thought to herself.

Emily asked Rose where she lived. Rose replied “In a house on Waterbird way.”

“That is the street I live on” Emily answered. “Maybe we can play later.”

When school was out the two girls walked home together because they lived too close to take the bus, and discovered they only lived three houses away from each other. Emily and Rose thought this was great.

Emily and Rose became really good friends. It got to the point that they did everything together. Emily was a slight bit taller than Rose and had blondish, brown hair that fell in ringlets down to her shoulders. She had blue eyes the color of blueberries, and a smile that would light up the room. Rose won prom queen one year with Emily runner up.They both got along with the other girls in their class.

The years passed by and Emily and Rose went through all of the rites of passage you go through growing up; puberty, developing breasts, First bras, their monthly, boys, dates, proms, graduation. They did everything together.

It came time for college and they insisted on going to the same university. Their parents were not crazy about this decision and tried to talk them out of it, so they decided to go to schools in the same city. Rose was interested in journalism and Emily was an artist. Emily found an excellent art school in Philadelphia. With their minds made up they went to their guidance counselor looking for scholarships and financial aid, neither of which the counselor thought would be a problem. They each approached their parents.

“These schools are expensive,” Emily's father whooped rather loudly. “Daddy,” Emily tried to keep her cool. If Daddy loses it I will end up going nowhere, “Daddy stop. You knew I was going to go to college. What is the big surprise and besides I have applied for a scholarship and I have to get my portfolio together.”

“Did you have to pick the most expensive school in the country” her father said, still booming. “

“Where is that friend of yours going to school?”

Emily cleared her throat.

Her father chimed in “Let me guess. Philadelphia somewhere..”

Emily started to cry, turned around and walked out of the room.

“You have not heard the end of this yet young lady,” her father said, still yelling. Emily's mother came into the room and wanted to know what the commotion was about. At that point Emily walked back into the room and told her mother what was going on.

“It's only the most expensive art college in the country,” her father said, not quite so booming now. "It wouldn't happen to be in Philadelphia?” her mother quizzed. “Rose's mother just told me she applied and was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.”

“Mommy, Daddy,” Emily started, “I don't think you understand. Rose and I have been friends for a long, long time and we enjoy spending time together and being there for each other through the good and the bad and it's not like we haven't talked about it, but we decided that we would both do better in school if we were closer together and we had each other to lean on if need be.”

Emily's father went into his office and slammed the door.

5/25/16

CHAPTER 4

LORRAINE AND GALEN

Rose stood and finished the last of her coffee, so looking forward to the day when she could call this house home.

She and Emily had been best friends since kindergarten. Rose started school a month late. Emily saw her in the lunch room, looking confused and with everyone ignoring her. Rose looked about ready to cry, so Emily walked over and introduced herself.

“Hi! My name is Emily. Think our seats are next to each other. Come with me. I'll show you.” Rose smiled at Emily and looked relieved that someone seemed to notice, and even care she was there. She was still scared and tears were at the surface. Emily showed Rose her seat at the table, indicated to Rose the way the bathrooms, described all the rules they had to follow, such as how they had to wash their hands, the place where the cubbies were with their names on them, and where to hang their coats and sweaters. Emily thought Rose looked so pretty in her blue jumper and her patent leather shoes and her hair in braids. Wonder if Mommy will buy me a pair of shoes like Rose's, Emily thought to herself.

Emily asked Rose where she lived. Rose replied “In a house on Waterbird way.”

“That is the street I live on” Emily answered. “Maybe we can play later.”

When school was out the two girls walked home together because they lived too close to take the bus, and discovered they only lived three houses away from each other. Emily and Rose thought this was great.

Emily and Rose became really good friends. It got to the point that they did everything together. Emily was a slight bit taller than Rose and had blondish, brown hair that fell in ringlets down to her shoulders. She had blue eyes the color of blueberries, and a smile that would light up the room. Rose won prom queen one year with Emily runner up.They both got along with the other girls in their class.

The years passed by and Emily and Rose went through all of the rites of passage you go through growing up; puberty, developing breasts, First bras, their monthly, boys, dates, proms, graduation. They did everything together.

It came time for college and they insisted on going to the same university. Their parents were not crazy about this decision and tried to talk them out of it, so they decided to go to schools in the same city. Rose was interested in journalism and Emily was an artist. Emily found an excellent art school in Philadelphia. With their minds made up they went to their guidance counselor looking for scholarships and financial aid, neither of which the counselor thought would be a problem. Together they approached their parents.

“These schools are expensive,” Emily's father whooped rather loudly. “Daddy,” Emily tried to keep her cool. If Daddy loses it I will end up going nowhere, “Daddy stop. You knew I was going to go to college. What is the big surprise and besides I have applied for a scholarship and I have to get my portfolio together.”

“Did you have to pick the most expensive school in the country” her father said, still booming. “

“Where is that friend of yours going to school?”

Emily cleared her throat.

Her father chimed in “Let me guess. Philadelphia somewhere..”

Emily started to cry, turned around and walked out of the room.

“You have not heard the end of this yet young lady,” her father said, still yelling. Emily's mother came into the room and wanted to know what the commotion was about. At that point Emily walked back into the room and told her mother what was going on.

“It's only the most expensive art college in the country,” her father said, not quite so booming now. "It wouldn't happen to be in Philadelphia?” her mother quizzed. “Rose's mother just told me she applied and was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania.”

“Mommy, Daddy,” Emily started, “I don't think you understand. Rose and I have been friends for a long, long time and we enjoy spending time together and being there for each other through the good and the bad and it's not like we haven't talked about it, but we decided that we would both do better in school if we were closer together and we had each other to lean on if need be.”

Emily's father went into his office and slammed the door.

Chapter Three

Galen and Lorraine

Rose sipped on her third cup of coffee, ran her fingers through her shoulder length auburn hair and surveyed the living room. Her whole life was reduced to twelve boxes. She put her cup on top of a box and did a couple of stretches to ease the nagging pain in her back from packing nonstop.

Twelve boxes. This came out to two boxes for every decade of her life.
The truly amazing thing was that for years she’d been an uncontrollable packrat, saving photos, mementos that ranged from movie tickets to hand-written letters (and some of the letters she couldn’t even remember who the person who’d written them was anymore), memorabilia from trips she’d taken when she was just a child to the last trip she’d taken with Christopher.



Christopher. If anything had been a thorn in the side of their marriage it was her inability to toss things out and her lack of keeping it all neat. And the amazing knack she had of losing things, important and mundane. Christopher had the sensibilities of an accountant. “Everything in its place and a place for everything,” was one of his favorites. The only things he ever misplaced were his glasses, and together they’d search the house to find wherever he’d absentmindedly taken them off.



Rose picked up her cup and leaned against a tall box and wondered what her husband of 30 years would think of her now. Everything in her life was in its place, boxed away to begin a new chapter in her life. If he wasn’t already dead, the shock of this new version of his wife might just have killed him.



Ten years ago on an icy Valentine’s day, he’d jumped in the car because he’d forgotten to buy the single red rose he’d given her every year since they’d first met. He never made it home. The policemen who arrived at the door many long hours later told her it was quick and he suffered no pain. Could they be so sure? Or was this God’s way of letting Christopher off the hook so he could dump all the pain on Rose that day her world ceased to make sense. She mourned deeply for two months, withdrawing from her children and friends. she knew Emily tried her best to get her feelings out, but Rose knew if she did this, a floodgate of emotions would pour out and might bury her. After a few months of sleeping all day, not washing, barely eating or cleaning the house, she emerged and appeared fine to most people (although she suspected Emily knew better).



She’d never imagined a world without Christopher. He was her first boyfriend and they’d married when she was 20 and before she had a chance to know the world on her own. She finished college and by the grace of God and a lot of hard work, managed to get a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in journalism and later, a masters of fine arts degree. Three years later their twins, Jake and Jennifer were born and she threw herself into motherhood with a vengeance. Although not an organizer or an initiator, she was definitely a joiner and belonged to a top-notch mother’s group that not only was fun and educational for the children, but a total learning experience for the mothers. Whether it was simple crafts and cooking or lively discussions on life, faith and the arts, Rose felt herself totally fulfilled.



She free-lanced for local newspapers, women’s magazines and some travel magazines. Although brilliant, Christopher chose not to attend college but follow his father’s footsteps and work as an electrician, eventually running his own company. They were not rich, but quite comfortable and wanted for nothing.



The twins were very close and it wasn’t really surprising when they’d decided after graduating from college to find work in Japan as English teachers. Having one child thousands of miles away was hard enough but both of them leaving was mind numbing. Waving goodbye as their plane unceremoniously bore them away to a foreign, faraway land was the second hardest thing she’d had to endure.



She managed to keep busy with her writing and various clubs and organizations she belonged to. And, of course, she visited and lunched with Emily at least twice a week. She wasn’t sure exactly how the idea of a bed-and-breakfast had sprung up but it was one they both loved and grabbed at the instant it was mentioned. Perhaps it was the huge house that Emily lived in by herself and both of them complaining about taxes and the sameness of life’s routines.



She smiled as she taped the last box and looked at her neat, compact new life to be. What both of them really loved was this renewed chance of hope for two 60 year old women.

Mandalas 5/17/16

Here are some Galendalas for you.

A House to Build a Dream on Chapter 2

A house to Build a Dream on
Chapter two
Lorraine and Galen



Emily and Rose sat in Emily's dining room finishing their coffee and cranberry orange scones. They talked about what had gone on in their lives since they had last seen each other. One minute they would be laughing hysterically and the next they’d be in tears.
Even though she’d heard the story before, Rose never ceased to laugh at Emily’s story about why she’d divorced David Miller who after 25 years of marriage finally admitted he was Jewish.
"It’s not that it would have been cause of divorce 25 years ago. I loved him and wouldn’t have left him for that, but to wait as long as he did? What had he been thinking?" Emily felt that religion was one of the major roots of a marriage and was really thrown for a loop.
She started crying. She still loved David, however she had morals and took her religion very seriously. Emily had been a devout Catholic all her life and simply could not live with a man who was not of the same faith.
"He wanted me to convert! Do you believe that? He said he had spent 25 years playing Catholic and now it was my time to become Jewish."
Rose got up and came over to Emily, put her arms around her, and got a throw from the living room. She put it around emily’s' shoulders."Take as long as you need, Emily.”
Emily took some tissues from her pocket book and wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
"I’m okay. I just have these moments once in a while. It has been long enough since we divorced and I believe he has someone else he is seeing already."
Rose remarked how good Emily looked in her brown skirt and tan short sleeve sweater. It was still cool after a long winter. Rose stood in the middle of the dining room turning slow circles taking it all in. The thought that she would be living here with her best friend since kindergarten filled her with joy that she had no idea lived within her.
"You don’t look bad yourself, Emily. I love the way you have your hair cut in that bob and your dress is just exquisite." The dress Emily was wearing was a clay blue color with a short jacket with peacocks on it. The outfit all went together and matched the color of Emily's eyes.
"You won’t be saying anything like that after you see me in my jeans." Emily said. “but let’s take a good look at our rooms again. I figure we can both sleep downstairs since there are two rooms down this hall with a full bath in each room, not big bathrooms but enough for our needs, and who knows, we may like it down here so much we will stay. And I know how much you love the solarium full of my tropical plants, hot tub and a steam bath.”
They gathered up Rose's things and walked back to the bedrooms. Although she’d seen these rooms countless times before, she stood in awe of their beauty.
One bedroom had light rose walls, with the woodwork painted white and a hand hooked carpet with roses on it, the room had a double bed with a white lace bed spread. The room was immaculate, with a walk in closet and antique bureau for her underwear necessities, and a comfy stuffed chair covered with pink, white and green stripes.
The second bedroom was a butter yellow color, with just a slightly darker shade of yellow woodwork, and a hand hooked rug with a garden pattern on it, all shades of greens, yellows, pinks and a hint of purple. The bedspread was a very pale lace green. There was a rocking chair, also a walk-in closet as well as an antique bureau. Both bedrooms had bow windows, and were full of light and very airy.
Emily said, “Take your pick. Which room would you like?"
Rose dropped her bags and just stood and looked at each room. "Emily, they're both so perfectly beautiful, but I think I'm partial to the rose." She started to giggle, "and it goes with my name."
Emily started laughing, too. "I hadn’t thought of that."
Suddenly Rose's cell phone rang. "Yes, this is Rose. What! What! You are kidding! Of course! Yes, yes, Saturday morning, it is!”
"Emily, it looks like you're going to have me around longer than you thought. That was the realtor, my house just sold.”
Emily and Rose hugged each other.
Emily said "Oh let's go have a drink to celebrate. Then go and have a nice lunch somewhere. There are some superb places down in the town."Rose responded in the affirmative and off they went back down the hall.

mandalas 5/11/16

Galendalas

I'm trying various image editing programs to enhance mandalas/remove backgrounds. Rara

FIRST POST 5/10/16

A HOUSE TO BUILD A DREAM ON by Galen and Lorraine

chapter 1

Emily pulled back the Irish lace curtain and peered out the window overlooking a porch that wrapped itself around the house like a giant hug. She sighed. Rose promised she’d be here at 9:00 sharp and it was quarter to ten already. 

But she laughed, wondering why she would expect anything else from her friend of so many years. Rose could do most anything she set her mind on, but managing time….HELL, just understanding time was beyond her scope of expertise. She’d get here when she got here. End of story.She felt Miss Sassypants, her plump calico, wind herself around her leg, begging for a little attention, like scratches under the chin and gentle tugs on the ears. She reached down to stroke the cat and her body gave a not so gentle reminder that she was not a young woman anymore. 

Next month she would be 61! How on earth had she gotten this old? She felt no different than when she was 15. Of course, she had years of experiences and knowledge gained, but deep inside her was the same spirit and heart of the teenaged girl who had also once looked out the window in anticipation.Of course, the world for her was different then. She’d wake up each morning eager to greet a day full of hope, surprises and adventures just waiting to happen. Being a teenager was a life of extreme highs and intense lows, always alternating between joy and misery. Growing older, she discovered, was a process of tempering those highs and lows and learning to wait it all out.Maybe that was the biggest difference in young Emily and the older woman she’d grown into. Maybe it was watching the ability to hope and to wait with enthusiastic anticipation for surprises slowly diminish through the years. Emily decided when she turned 50 that she would never call herself old. She would go to her grave at 100 and still not utter that word to describe her. 

She never forgot her mother’s words. “Emily, i’m old and every day i see my world grow smaller and smaller. I’m just waiting until I shrink into invisibility.” And as she’d come to understand about words, if they are said enough and believed, they will become self-fulfilling. Her mother gradually stopped caring, eating or talking. She just faded away in her bedsheets. 

Emily vowed she would never let that happen to her. She found that some days were harder than others to remember that vow. The days after her divorce were difficult. Some of her friends told her about the freedom of doing whatever you wanted without the bother of having to please anyone else. But in the beginning, life with David was so good and pleasing him was her joy. She discovered that solitude was perfect for monks but lonely for most everyone else.

But she was not complaining about her life in any way. Sure, she had some regrets. Who could live this long and not wish they had taken a different path or approach along the way? Anyone who said they did not have regrets in life was a liar in her estimation. 

Emily eased herself on the chintz sofa and waited for Sassy to jump up and settle on her lap. She looked at the clock again and made a clucking sound that brought the cat’s ears to attention. Should she call and see if…..A quick knock on the door, a hearty “Here i am!” 

And in came Rose, throwing off her sweater and putting some just-out-of-the-oven scones on the dining room table. “Coffee fresh?” She asked. “Well, it was an hour ago,” Emily said. She got up and poured two cups of coffee, black for her and cream with two sugars for Rose. Rose nibbled her scone and downed the coffee. “Not bad, if i say so myself. You should get one of those coffee pod machines. You know, one cup at a time. That way the coffee is always fresh.”Emily laughed. “i’ll think about it if you think about getting a watch with an alarm so you get yourself places on time.”

“So do you think we can pull this off?” Rose asked. “Me buying a keurig machine or you arriving on time?" Emily asked with a smile. Rose laughed. “I guess either of those things is just as amazing as what we are planning to do.” She picked up her cup of coffee and walked around the dining room. “you know, I have always loved this house. From the very first time I set foot in it I knew there was something special about it and…..” She paused and her voice was quieter. “……I knew I would have a place in here some day. Don’t ask me how. I just felt it.” Emily looked at her friend. “you think we can do it? Make it happen?” 
Rose pulled back the lace curtains, looked out the window and smiled. “This is going to make the best damned bed and breakfast in town.” She reached down and picked up Sassy who’d wandered over to her for a little more loving. “No, forget that! Miss Sassypants, you are going to live in the best b & b in the state, in all of New England, in the country.” 
She ran over to Emily and squeezed her hand. “Rose, this is going to work. I believe it with all my heart.” Emily sipped her coffee slowly. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. The kitchen needs renovating and the rooms need…”
“I was on the phone this morning with O’Connor contractors and they’re starting next week. And I think I’ve got a buyer for my house. With some luck, i’ll be moving in here in the next month or two.”Emily wiped away a tear before it spilled down her cheek. Hope had found itself back into her heart and she would not let it leave again.