In this chapter, there will be another major life change for Jon and Eva. Kind of huge. Also the end of this part takes place in a 2020 where the Corona Virus doesn't exist. My world, my rules. Is this the last chapter? Read on, loyal readers, to find out if the story ends here or continues on for another chapter or two.
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In March of 2014, Eva and I adopted our 'late in life' children, ten year old Vincent (Vince) and eight year old Maria, formerly Andretta, now Grossman. They lost their parents almost two years before in a car accident. Eva and I had been looking to foster a child and instead we got a brother and sister and we fell in love with them almost immediately. We jumped on the opportunity to adopt them when the time came, and they were fully loved and integrated into the family by everyone, including Rachel and Connor. Vince really bonded with Rachel over music and she worked with him on the guitar and piano whenever she was home. In addition, he had regular music lessons every week plus help from me on guitar, and he joined a hockey team the following Fall. Maria took ballet lessons in town, something Eva took her to, a mother-daughter thing. Then on Sundays they went to Sunday school after church (Catholic), which Eva and I took them to, even though she and I are Jewish. We were raising them in their own religion, as their parents had, until they were ready to make their own choices. Life was busy for us at 53. We loved it.
2014 was a very busy year in our family. Eva and I finished our 23rd year as principals at Wayne Upper Day School, making us the longest tenured principals in the schools' 154 year history. The Trustees threw us a party at the end of April, a black-tie party, The invitees were all drawn from random entries of alumni, staff, past members of the Board, even a couple of current students. We were given a few gag gifts and a pair of really nice gold watches. We loved our careers and we had no desire to leave for any other opportunity and someone would have had to make us one hell of an offer to get us to even consider it. It didn't matter, really; we had contracts that went to 2021 and we planned to honor them, which would be 30 years there. Since we'd be only 60 by then, we had doubts about whether we'd be ready to retire at that point. We were healthy, active and we felt we were at the zenith of our careers and of our mental abilities.
Connor was spending the next two years as Executive Officer on his 'boat' (the Navy calls submarines boats), the USS Tampa Bay. It was seasoning, to train him to be a captain of a submarine. He was scheduled to transfer to shore duty in the academic year 2016-2017 to teach physics at Annapolis, then a year studying back at South Carolina Nuclear school, and then another year back at sea to sharpen his skills before he would be up for command of his own boat as a full Commander at age 37. Leigh and Ollie, his wife and son, would be dragged along with him, but Leigh was a Navy brat and knew the drill. And while in Annapolis, they'd be much closer to us. We'd see more of our grandson. Besides, they'd have two years of living together after all the periodic separations all the time.
Cammy was busy as you would expect the senior partner in a law office in LA to be. She had been chosen for the job a few years back because she was, in the legal informal terminology, a 'rainmaker'. She made it rain, ie. she brought in new clients. A lot of them, with lots of billable hours. She learned the entertainment law business in quick order and she made it rain in LA. She turned that office from a backwater of 12 associates barely justifying their salaries into a nice sized firm of about 70 lawyers with paralegals, assistants and secretaries making solid salaries. She herself had a low-to-mid seven figure salary but she doubled that or more with bonuses. And she still had her own investment account from her days living with Eva and me, now worth tens of millions. Cammy was the definition of success. She was a real Hollywood Mover and Shaker, and people came to both seek her advice and dread her phone calls. And Kyle was the doting father, the perfect house husband. He took care of Anna, oversaw the upkeep of their small mansion, and adored his wife. They were great together. And when they decided to put Anna in a top private school out there without waiting on one of the years long lists, Eva and I were able to make a call and send a letter and get Anna bumped to the top of the list. Professional courtesy. I'd do anything for my sister and niece.
And Rachel, last but definitely not least. She graduated from Julliard that May. We managed to get eight tickets for her graduation, for Eva and me and our little ones, for Connor and his family and for Phyllis, the proud grandmother. I couldn't finagle any more tickets for Cammy and her family of Kyle and Anna. We just couldn't get them. It was painful for both Cammy and Rachel; they had been so close when Rachel was a child and Cammy was the Cool Aunt. But they all came to Philly for a long weekend to be at the graduation party at a nice bistro and so Cammy could meet with her partners in the law firm.
Rachel told us a few weeks ago she was moving to Portland Oregon to be the lead pianist at their symphony orchestra. She could have taken the second seat in Houston's orchestra, but even though Portland is a much smaller community, it was better for her to be first seat so she'd get more exposure than a second chair would in a larger city. Big fish, small pond theory. I agreed with her. She had a much better chance of moving up from Portland, including possibilities as a solo artist. Eva and I agreed to subsidize her relatively meager salary for a few years to give her a chance to establish herself and make a name for herself. Five years. But it couldn't be a permanent thing.
At the luncheon, Connor got up and, after clinking his glass to get everyone's attention, he gave a toast to his sister. "I want to thank everyone for being here today to honor my incredibly talented and beautiful sister Rachel. She's going to be a big name one day and we're all going to be able to say 'I knew her before'. Rachel, you're an amazing musician and an even better sister and daughter. And niece and aunt and...." mild laughter fluttered around the room. "But best of all, you're an incredible person and a real credit to our mother and father, Eva and Jon. I know how much they love you because I know how much they love all their children, including our new brother and sister." He waved to Vince and Maria, who smiled and waved back. "Good luck in all you do, Rachel. I can't wait to be invited to your first headline performance, wherever in the world it is. We all love you, Squirt!" Lots of cheers and Rachel got up, crying and hugged her big brother for at least thirty seconds. Eva and I burst with pride.
Later we were sitting with Rachel while Maria and Vince were busy being spoiled by Phyllis. She was telling us about the apartment she found in Portland and how she was going to give private lessons to help with the bills. Eva and I were both feeling wistful. Our family was spreading all over the country. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, kids move away. And sisters. Even with our young children keeping us busy, we'd miss having Rachel near enough to see her regularly. Connor, though moving nearby for a year, would be busy and then keep on moving on; such is the life in a military career. But we had Vince and Maria. That took a bit of the sting away.
In the evening, after we picked at a light dinner of salads and some grilled chicken breasts (no one was really hungry), we were sitting out in the backyard, all four of our children plus Leigh and Oliver, as he preferred to be called, and Cammy with her small family, and Phyllis. Walt and Will had come down for the party but had to be back in New York for the morning. Eva and I held hands as there was cheerful, playful banter among our family and I smiled to myself. Our lives together started pretty roughly. I thought back to those first few years. The loss of my mother, the collapse of my father as well as his death. How I almost lost Eva, which would have been the worst blow of all. Harold's passing. And getting shot on that terrible day in October 2001.
But we also had so many great things in our lives. Our four wonderful children, our grandson and daughter-in-law. Cammy and her family. Great jobs we loved and where were were respected and even beloved. All the children we worked with over the years who went on to good lives of their own. Overall, life was pretty amazing.
I squeezed Eva's hand, gently, and she looked at me with a soft smile. I could tell she was thinking much along the same lines. We built something beautiful here, and, on that warm, slightly humid May night in Eastern Pennsylvania, we watched and listened as everyone enjoyed being together. Quietly I said, so no one else could here "Angel, we've done all right for ourselves, haven't we? We're happy together? YOU'RE happy with me?"
"Bear, how can you even ask me that? How can you doubt for a minute the life we have? First of all, I love and adore you. And I plan to do so until my dying day. Our children, our extended family. Friends. Our careers. The students whose lives we've changed over all these years. And you actually ask if we're happy together and if I'm happy with you? Maybe you're getting senile." She said that with a bigger smile.
"Not that I'm aware. Then again, I'd be the last to know." We laughed together, a healthy laugh that got others attention.
