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"I’ loss She wus crabby to the end I’ht beck"

"Looks like you’ve made a conquest," I reain on my side of the booth and Tasha slid in across the table from me

"She’s adorable," she said

"That’s one word for it"

"She speaks English well How long has she been in this country?"

"Sixty years, give or take"

We confined ourselves to chitchat until Rosie returned with the wine in a dusty bottle with an actual cork Forand wine so close to vinegar you could use it to clean s The wine she poured for Tasha was like drinking elixir frorance of apples, pears, and honey

We let Rosie order for us, which she’d have done anyway It was better to give her permission to be bossy and thus retain a modicum of control She was otherwise a food dominatrix The carp with sour cream turned out to be lovely Maybe I’d have dinner here with Tasha more often

As is the case every ti a secret study of her She looks not the way I look, but the way I think I look when I’m at h nities where hers has survived in its original state My eyes are hazel where hers are dark brown, but the shape is the same I could tell she plucked her eyebrows, and I envied her both the skill and the courage So so in hopes it won’t hurt Inevitably, I pull out the wrong hair, which makes my brows look patchy and incomplete Then I have to use eyebrow pencil to fill in the blanks, which gives me the fierce demeanor of a Kabuki

When we’d finished our meal and Rosie had removed the plates, Tasha reached into her tote and pulled out a bulky manila envelope I expected her to hand it across the table toand cataloging Grandfather Kinsey’s papers for the historical preservation group that raised the e because his files are so voluanized She’s never had the patience to tackle theical account of the house--when it was built, the architect, the plans, and that sort of thing Grandfather Kinsey kept everything--and II’ve been able to cos with the builder, various construction proposals, invoices and receipts docu to end In theto Grand I haven’t told her I found them, because there’s no way to predict what she’d do with theht you should see theot my attention"

"I hope so," she said

I held out my hand and took the envelope While she watched, I unfolded the clasp, opened the package, and peered in There were three or four sheets of letterhead stationery and a series of letters bound together with two thick rubber bands, old ones apparently, because both snapped when I tried reh the envelopes, soinia Kinsey, my Aunt Gin The postmarks were assorted dates in the latter half of 1955--the sa through the next two calendar years One had been opened but the rest were still sealed Across the front of each envelope there was either an emphatic "RETURN TO SENDER!! ADDRESSEE UNKNOWN!" in Aunt Gin’s unes delivered by way of post office rubber staly at the return address You’d think a federal criery expressed

I knehat I was looking at In one of ued this very point Her mother, my Aunt Susanna, had said that the dayto Lorandparents She claimed that after they died, Grand tried for years to establish contact with iven up I’d assumed it was all bullshit, Aunt Susanna’s atte never spoken to ist of uish, bereft of fa , while adequate, had been curiously deficient in ht well have been so she learned at her in, I was affected She’d taught me many valuable lessons about life, most of which still serve , there was little The letters were proof Grand had made an effort that Aunt Gin had rebuffed