Tuesday, August 29, 2006
My car, my friend
Goodbye, you served me well.
My Custom Cruiser station wagon is gone. It is no more. I have grieved for awhile but now I feel joy. The gift to a nice man at the Quality Tile shop has been more than rewarding. It still leaves an empty feeling. My Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser leaves a gap in its place. The Aurora and the Tahoe have tried to fill it, but never quite lived up to its majesty, its big hug or its sheer size and luxury.
I bought my Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon in February 1984, twenty-two years ago. A third of my life, ago. My red Datsun station wagon had died and we needed to replace it. I had eyed these large station wagons for awhile. Ever since I'd left India and came to America, in fact. Dad had ordered the bank car, an American station wagon, to take us to the station on the day I left Madras forever. The State Bank of India, formerly the Imperial Bank, was where my Dad worked and was the Chief Accountant of the Madras Circle at that time. This bank then had 1,000 branches in India.
What luxury that car held, how it typified America in my mind. It signified my entry into that New World in 1963. It bridged my exit from all that was familiar in India. I went to Bombay by train with Mum and Dad flew. I took my flight to New York, via London. Via Baghdad and Beirut both bombed out cities now. I also had a brief stop in Switzerland before spending a week in London.
Although it took me twenty years to fulfill my dream of owning that station wagon, I eventually did. Then, it followed my history for twenty years. In 1984 my big dog died. I had bought the car to make sure he fit but it was too late. He was a huggable, lovable dog, my Pierre.
My sweet little dog, Kutti died a couple of years later. I would take a full Brownie troop in my Custom Cruiser, doubling up in the eight seatbelts--not allowed now. I took Natala and Sheila to India alone at the end of 1984, my parents were visiting India at the time, but we stayed in a hotel alone. I got divorced (1990) and remarried (1996) started working at Evergreen Valley College (1992). Natala and Sheila finished high school and college and went on to careers at Google, Microsoft and in Photography. I went on Sabbatical (2000) and traveled round the world Australia, Europe, England, India, and more...
Maybe the end of my possession of my big car is also the beginning for me of a new era. The end of my sometimes obsession with writing a book, that is near its end, completed. The tail end of my career as a librarian. I'm now on a pre-retirement reduced load--which can last for ten years, one down. The end of the constant remodeling and completion of our house, I can only hope. The end of aspiring for perfection and reflecting on a life well-lived and ready for more, more life, more living, more completions. And more beginnings.
PERSONAL NOTES:
Sad to celebrate the end of the life of Oliver's grandmother last week, Fakri(joon) Aalami. Our condolences go out to the extended Aalami family. She was 91.
Family travelers: Jessica in Portland for a month and now in Singapore for a conference. Natala to Antigua, Guatemala and down to California a couple of times. Bill and Moi to Santa Barbara for the Fiesta and to see Jenny and Agustin and incidently saw Sammy, too, who was visiting them enroute to Costa Rica. (See picture below.) Jasmine in Malawi with Jared now. Sheila visited Natala in Seattle and moved to her new apartment in San Francisco with views from every window. Lovely and bright.
Eric, not making it to The Party but his kids are out and about.Holly to her first ball, with Eric and Open2View owner, Chris, wearing tuxes and driving their Mercedes Benz'to pick up the kids. Jemma, who's into free enterprise, too, made the cover of her school prospectus. And Moo, spent a month in the Philippines at a Children's International Summer Villages camp. Good on ya! All of you down under, under in NZ.
The Party being the Fiesta on Sunday coming up for Polly's 90th birthday. Polly is Bill's mom. It will be a Bruner Family Reunion totally about 60 people, including chldren. Looking forward.
Meanwhile, the Goddesses had their fun. We celebrated the wedding of David and Patricia with a Ploughman's Platter and blessings in our backyard.
Patricia and David, Virginia, Dagmar, Jim, Pattty, Antoinette, Russell Ginger, John, Joy, Ingrid, Brizzie, Ginger2 (Bill and Katrina)
Until the next time, au revoir. I plan to use the PowerPoint class that took all my time this summer, in the next workshop I give on using the Internet. Back to work on Thursday! Summer is over, officially, but it will still be Summer in California for a few more months.
My Custom Cruiser station wagon is gone. It is no more. I have grieved for awhile but now I feel joy. The gift to a nice man at the Quality Tile shop has been more than rewarding. It still leaves an empty feeling. My Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser leaves a gap in its place. The Aurora and the Tahoe have tried to fill it, but never quite lived up to its majesty, its big hug or its sheer size and luxury.
I bought my Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon in February 1984, twenty-two years ago. A third of my life, ago. My red Datsun station wagon had died and we needed to replace it. I had eyed these large station wagons for awhile. Ever since I'd left India and came to America, in fact. Dad had ordered the bank car, an American station wagon, to take us to the station on the day I left Madras forever. The State Bank of India, formerly the Imperial Bank, was where my Dad worked and was the Chief Accountant of the Madras Circle at that time. This bank then had 1,000 branches in India.
What luxury that car held, how it typified America in my mind. It signified my entry into that New World in 1963. It bridged my exit from all that was familiar in India. I went to Bombay by train with Mum and Dad flew. I took my flight to New York, via London. Via Baghdad and Beirut both bombed out cities now. I also had a brief stop in Switzerland before spending a week in London.
Although it took me twenty years to fulfill my dream of owning that station wagon, I eventually did. Then, it followed my history for twenty years. In 1984 my big dog died. I had bought the car to make sure he fit but it was too late. He was a huggable, lovable dog, my Pierre.
My sweet little dog, Kutti died a couple of years later. I would take a full Brownie troop in my Custom Cruiser, doubling up in the eight seatbelts--not allowed now. I took Natala and Sheila to India alone at the end of 1984, my parents were visiting India at the time, but we stayed in a hotel alone. I got divorced (1990) and remarried (1996) started working at Evergreen Valley College (1992). Natala and Sheila finished high school and college and went on to careers at Google, Microsoft and in Photography. I went on Sabbatical (2000) and traveled round the world Australia, Europe, England, India, and more...Maybe the end of my possession of my big car is also the beginning for me of a new era. The end of my sometimes obsession with writing a book, that is near its end, completed. The tail end of my career as a librarian. I'm now on a pre-retirement reduced load--which can last for ten years, one down. The end of the constant remodeling and completion of our house, I can only hope. The end of aspiring for perfection and reflecting on a life well-lived and ready for more, more life, more living, more completions. And more beginnings.
PERSONAL NOTES:
Sad to celebrate the end of the life of Oliver's grandmother last week, Fakri(joon) Aalami. Our condolences go out to the extended Aalami family. She was 91.
Family travelers: Jessica in Portland for a month and now in Singapore for a conference. Natala to Antigua, Guatemala and down to California a couple of times. Bill and Moi to Santa Barbara for the Fiesta and to see Jenny and Agustin and incidently saw Sammy, too, who was visiting them enroute to Costa Rica. (See picture below.) Jasmine in Malawi with Jared now. Sheila visited Natala in Seattle and moved to her new apartment in San Francisco with views from every window. Lovely and bright.
Eric, not making it to The Party but his kids are out and about.Holly to her first ball, with Eric and Open2View owner, Chris, wearing tuxes and driving their Mercedes Benz'to pick up the kids. Jemma, who's into free enterprise, too, made the cover of her school prospectus. And Moo, spent a month in the Philippines at a Children's International Summer Villages camp. Good on ya! All of you down under, under in NZ.
The Party being the Fiesta on Sunday coming up for Polly's 90th birthday. Polly is Bill's mom. It will be a Bruner Family Reunion totally about 60 people, including chldren. Looking forward.
Meanwhile, the Goddesses had their fun. We celebrated the wedding of David and Patricia with a Ploughman's Platter and blessings in our backyard. Patricia and David, Virginia, Dagmar, Jim, Pattty, Antoinette, Russell Ginger, John, Joy, Ingrid, Brizzie, Ginger2 (Bill and Katrina) Until the next time, au revoir. I plan to use the PowerPoint class that took all my time this summer, in the next workshop I give on using the Internet. Back to work on Thursday! Summer is over, officially, but it will still be Summer in California for a few more months.
