Afternoon sun baked down on us as we arrived at my mother's facility but cool air pleasantly met us as we stepped into the building. Equally pleasant was my mother's greeting when we entered her room.
"Oh, Sarah! What a wonderful surprise! And you've brought Karen too!" We stepped forward and she embraced us both, remaining in her chair by the window.
"I'm so glad to see you, Grandma! I'm pleased you remembered me," Karen said, trying hard to control her exuberance.
"How could I forget any of my girls!"
Karen and my mother hardly allowed me to get in a word edgewise as they babbled away like two old friends. I didn't mind a mite. I reveled in their enthusiastic exchange. My mother's reminiscences exceeded mine in detail, prompted by Karen's numerous questions about my early years. Mother confirmed everything I'd related to Karen and more. A question on scoring a family game was explained and a recipe for pie clarified."
"I start regular school in a few weeks," Karen said.
"Study very hard. Do the best you're able. Education will open lots of doors for you."
"Sarah said you and her dad made sure she studied," she said.
"We put stock in a good education and planned for both my girls to go on to college." A twinge of sadness passed over her face. "It didn't work out that way, but both of my girls did well in the long run."
"Did Sarah obey you and do her studies?"
My mother smiled at me. "Sarah was a very good child. She nearly always did as she was told. Occasionally, her temper got the best of her and she misbehaved."
"What did you do then?"
"She'd be punished of course. We believed in rules and set standards. If the girls violated those, they knew they'd be punished and accepted the result."
"How did you punish them?"
"They might not be allowed to join the rest of us in a game, or have to skip a favorite desert. But, as I said, both my girls were well behaved."
"What would you do if they were really bad?" Karen pressed.
My mother looked to me. "You should ask Sarah that question. She knows. But that situation rarely occurred."
"You'd always punish them because they deserved it." It was a statement, not a question. I wondered how my mother would answer.
"Almost always." She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "One time I couldn't."
I changed the subject quickly. "Karen is going to begin a diary," I said.
Karen looked over at me, than back to her grandmother. "Sarah said she used to keep a diary."