106 The Meadow addition to her parents, there are other demands as well. Her job teaching at the high school. The challenge of two teenage daughters. Of course, Jeff is a help. Competent, efficient Jeff. But his consulting business consumes every hour of every day. Her routine used to run like the gears of a clock. But now knots twist her stomach. Each morning she glances in the mirror and plucks another gray hair. And at night when she showers, her eyes flood with tears, the tears running with the water, so many tears the drain discerns no difference, just buckets of water circling down. She isn’t sure what she mourns the most. The loss of a dearly loved father or her life as she once knew it. The day of is a monumental hurdle. Lisa has allocated three hours to get Fran showered and dressed. The aide, a Haitian woman, suggests music while they work. How about, she says, Perry Como? Meanwhile Lisa has fortified herself for the task at hand. “Dad died, remember Mom? Marvin? Your husband?” Then she thrusts out a photograph of her father. “We’re going to his funeral, Mom. We’re in Miami, today is Wednesday and we’re very very sad.” But Fran is preoccupied. While one hand sits in her lap, a finger traces her arm from the wrist up, humming. Her brow is furrowed, her mind still. It’s as if her finger’s journey consumes all her energy and attention. Lisa has no idea if her mother’s heard a word. “Your sister Louise is going to be there. Remember your sister, Louise?” Lisa waves another photo. Fran and Louise are posing with a birthday cake. Fran looks around ten, Louise younger. “Louise, Mom. Remember?” All at once Fran’s eyes widen. Then she breaks into song. A, you’re adorable! Hours later at the funeral service, Lisa is shocked at by how frail her Aunt Louise has become. Unlike Fran, her mind is
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