Month: November 2021

My wallet disappeared during this past week.  It wasn’t lost.  It was not stolen.  It simply disappeared.

My good friend and house helper, Rita, saw me as I held the wallet in my hand and asked her if I should pay her for her services that day.  She decided I should wait until Friday, when she planned to return.  So, I closed the wallet with the magnets it has and tossed it into my red purse.  Just that day, I had changed purses from the black one I usually carry to the red one that would go with me as I travel in December.  I figured that I would know where the red one was at all times, better than the black one.  The red purse into which I tossed the wallet was sitting on the floor in front of the loveseat that I have in the living room.  Rita left and I continued with my day of work on the house.

The last three months I have been involved with people who have died.  Or, at least, I knew that their life was almost at an end, and I was waiting.

Dolores, Teacher Extraordinaire

My first loss in these months was Dolores, an educator of many years.  She and I were both employed by the Englewood Public Schools, although not at the same school.  Here students were all young people with developmental disabilities.  She was part teacher, mentor, friend, guide, confident, and mother for these children.  Somehow, the work done by the teachers responsible for these children never receives the recognition they deserve.  And, yet, the responsibilities of bringing them into the world of being productive adults is so critically important.

It is also the reason that the organization ARC receives all of my give-away goods.  ARC has really great work and social programs for young people as they grew out of Dolores’ school program.

Daughter #1 and I drove to Georgetown, last Saturday.  Since I’m not going to be available on either weekend of the Georgetown Christmas Market, we made the trek earlier than usual.

Attending on the usual weekends means hundreds of people on the sidewalks and traffic-free streets.  Those same hundreds in the stores, in line for coffee and pastries and lunch at the Happy Cooker restaurant.  And, in the town park where the vendors had stalls with their wares.  A door keeper in top hat and tails at the Shoppe Internationale, allowing only a certain number of people to be in the store at the same time.  Usual weekends also means unbridled holiday excitement!

For years, I have collected Westmoreland Glass.  When I first began collecting in earnest, the Brookridge Pharmacy was still in business at Bellevue and South Broadway in – what else? – the Brookridge Shopping Center.  At that time, drugstores often had special items such as toys, knick-knacks, candy, school supplies, as well as fancy glassware for sale.  My first two pieces of Westmoreland Glass were purchased at the Brookridge Pharmacy.