NOTE: THIS IS THE LAST INSTALLMENT UNTIL NEXT WEEK ...
From then on, our correspondence almost always had a
personal dimension.
On October 21, for example, she wrote to tell me that her
sister-in-law was in the hospital; that same day I told her I’d been to Massachusetts
to see my dad three times in the previous two weeks—twice via car. At this awful hour, I wrote, I think of MWS , sitting with Godwin in his
last hours ….
On Halloween I wrote to tell her about the doings in
our neighborhood. I’m sitting now at my
desk and looking out at the little goblins, etc. parading around the
neighborhood collecting calories at each door. I have a Frankenstein’s monster
mask. I should answer the door with it, thereby saving much of the candy for
myself as the little critters scatter ….
When I was teaching my eighth graders about Frankenstein (late in my career), I
sometimes used to feign an excuse to go out in the hall, where I’d concealed
the rubber mask I’d mentioned to Betty, then dart back in with a monstrous
roar. Lots of satisfying screams …
Nowadays, though, with actual gun-toting monsters
sometimes showing up at schools, it would be a very bad idea to frighten youngsters—in any way. Actually, it was
probably a bad idea then, too … but I
always did have a streak of carelessness in me.
My birthday—November 11—arrived, and I got a Frankenstein gift from my son and daughter-in-law—a
fairly large doll of the creature. Betty was intrigued. Who made the large one? she asked—and I knew she was going to try
to find the same one for her own massive collection. I had told her that I was
feeling dreary about my birthday (it was number 55—seems youthful to me now: as
I write these words, I’m a few months short of 70); Betty said, Enjoy your birthdayness—(consider the
alternative) ….
And then, November 29, 1999, I wrote Betty the worst
news: My father passed away this morning
at 11:15. I’ll be back in Massachusetts this week for services.
Her reply: I am
so sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts are with you.
We did not write again until January 2000, more than a
month later.
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