Ann left me a blank check on her dining room table with a note: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Michael, tell me if the remainder of the bill is over a thousand dollars and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll transfer money to cover it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When she asked if I would work for her mother in Cambridge I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sure.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Teresa is short, dark, with thick hair cut into an Arthur Fonzerelli without the grease. What I notice most is her voice, which is crisp and deep, and on the phone it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible to guess her age – seventy-four. She needed someone she could trust to work in her house.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My daughter tells me I need a new faucet, but at my age I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see the point. When I go and someone else owns the house maybe they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the faucet, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get rid of it with the kitchen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t … .\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Turn it on. The water comes out very slowly. But as I say, at my age.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I moved closer and looked her right smack in her brown eyes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you mean at your age? You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re young. My mother is eighty-seven and my mother-in-law is ninety-two.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Teresa is self sufficient, opinionated, and very direct. Not an ounce of self pity oozes from her pores, but her husband of forty-nine years died last summer.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I read your husband\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obituary.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem surprised; I felt compelled to explain. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I worked for a woman who lives in the same building as your daughter, Ann, and she showed me the Globe column. It said he was a giving man loved by lots of people and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impressive for someone who made a living as a judge.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was fair and he did have friends. Always smiling, but he lingered at the end.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
**********<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have to tell you how much I admire you. Many of the people I work for have the TV on all day. You have a peaceful house.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like to read. I have to read, it relaxes me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What kind of books?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mysteries.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I thought Sherlock Holmes.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Murder mysteries?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Pathetically steering the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Like P.D. Robb.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She could see I had no clue.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also known as Nora Roberts.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Okay, I know her. I just finished James Patterson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Big Bad Wolf, but I really like Michael Connelly and Lee Child. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read them both. They are good.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, no TV?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My day starts at 4:30… .\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u01534:30 AM?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every morning. At five minutes past five I turn the TV onto TV Five and watch the weather. I leave it on for the news and then turn if off at six when the paper comes. At seven I call my younger brother Walter. This morning I walked Ann\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dog at seven and when I got back Walter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice was on the answering machine. It was 7:05 and he was asking if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fallen and hurt myself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wait a minute. You normally call him at seven and he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait more than five minutes to see if you were okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a worrier and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand how much I need to prove my independence. When our parents died he moved back into their house in East Cambridge.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The house he grew up in?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
“The same one. When my Larry died, Walter said, \u00c3\u00abCome on back to the house. You can have your old room.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
Today’s photo <\/a> from the Wayback machine. Brian, Flo, Ginger, Diane and Patti. Early seventies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ann left me a blank check on her dining room table with a note: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Michael, tell me if the remainder of the bill is over a thousand dollars and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll transfer money to cover it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When she asked if I … Continue reading