| She picked up my mailbox drawingit's nothing special, except it isWhy'd you put a rocking horse in the
picture, Dad?"
"I don't know," I said"It just wanted to be
there
"Did you draw it from memory?"
"NoI can't seem to do thatEither because of
the accident or because I never had that
particular skill in the first place Except for
sometimes when I didWhen it came to young men in
Twins tee-shirts, for instance"I found one on
the Internet, then printed-"
"Oh ****, I smudged it!" she cried"Oh, ****!"
"Ilse, it's all right
"It's not all right and it chanel bags wholesale does matter! You need
to get some ****ing paints!" She replayed what
she'd just said and clapped a hand over her mouth
"You probably won't believe this," I said, "but
I've heard that word a time or twoAlthough I
143
have an idea that maybe your boyfriend
"You got that right," she said"But he can let out a pretty good
gosh-darn when somebody cuts him off in traffic
Dad, about your pictures-"
"I'm just happy you like them
"It's more than liking
"I'm also dead on my feet
"I think maybe you need a cup of hot cocoa and
then bed
"That sounds denim chanel bag wonderful
"Which?"
She laughedIt was wonderful to hear her laugh
It filled the place up
xi
We stood on the beach the next morning with coffee
cups in hand and our ankles in the surfThe sun
had just hoisted itself over the low rise of the
Key behind us, and our shadows seemed to stretch
out onto the quiet water for miles
144
Ilse looked at me solemnly"Is this the most
beautiful place on earth, Dad?"
"No, but you're young and I can't blame you for
thinking it might beIt's number four on the Most
Beautiful list, actually, but the top three are
places nobody can cheap chanel watches spell
She smiled over the rim of her cupNumber one, Machu PicchuNumber
two, MarrakechNumber three, Petroglyph National
MonumentThen, at number four, Duma Key, just off
the west coast of Florida
Her smile widened for a second or twoThen it
faded and she was giving me the solemn stare again
I remembered her looking at me the same way when
she was four, asking me if there was any magic
like in fairy talesI had told her yes, of course,
thinking it was a lieNow I wasn't so sureBut
the air was warm, my bare feet were in the Gulf,
and I just didn't want Ilse to be gucci g watch hurtI thought
she was going to beBut everyone gets their share,
don't they? SurePow, below the belt, down you go, and the ref
just went out for a hot dogExcept the ones you
145
love can really multiply that hurt and pass it
aroundPain is the biggest power of loveThat's
what Wireman says
"See anything green, sweetheart?" I asked
"No, I was just thinking again how glad I am that
I cameI pictured you rotting away between an old
folks' retirement home and some horrible tiki bar
featuring Wet Tee-Shirt ThursdaysI guess I've
been reading too much Carl chanel watch women Hiaas |