Author's Note: My plan was to take a break from Eva and Jon's story for a few months, but there were a number of requests for me to continue and finish their` story and also....I found I was having trouble writing other stories. I think I need to finish this loving, lusty couple's tale, whether in one or two additional chapters. Maybe three. To do so will require leaping into the future. We start at the end of June, 2021, as Eva and Jon are about to move to North Carolina to take up the challenge of a new school after 30 years in Wayne, PA. and it will end in June of 2022. Like in the last chapter, no Corona virus exists in my self-constructed world. Connor is currently the Captain of a USN submarine, living with Leigh and Oliver in Georgia. Rachel is a concert pianist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, living there with her boyfriend Tony. Vince will be starting his college days at the end of August in Georgetown. Maria has two more years of high school, living with her parents. And Cammy is the Senior Managing Partner with her law firm back in Philadelphia.
So now we'll be following Jon and Eva and their family for years into the future. Again, it may be one more chapter or two. Could be more. We'll have to see.....
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Monday June 28 2021. We had to get up early, by 6AM, so we could all take showers and pack up the few remaining items like the dirty linens, bathroom and grooming things, our coffee maker and mugs. We all walked through the house one last time, making sure nothing was missed and reminiscing one last time over the wonderful memories Eva and I formed over thirty years and Vince and Maria formed over ten. No one was crying, but there wasn't a dry eye among us either.
"Jon, I'm going to miss this house. I remember when we left our house in New York to move here, and we thought we couldn't be happier than we were there. We were wrong. This beautiful house...our kids all grew up here. We had some great parties with great friends, Cammy's wedding to Kyle. A few tough times as well." She touched my left shoulder, which still got stiff on damp days, and I touched her hand. Maria snuggled to my other side and Vince put his arm around his mothers shoulders.
"We did all right here, Angel. In this house and at work too. I'm proud of what we accomplished at the school. Don't ever forget that, my love."
"I won't, not ever, Bear. I just wish they would have let us finish here..." I kissed the tear that trailed down her cheek.
"I know, my love. I know." We went into the kitchen and had some coffee before I boxed the coffeemaker and then, when we were done, we wrapped up our mugs. The last things we had to pack.
A little after 8, the movers came. Though it was June 29th, we weren't moving in until July 1st. The movers had other stops to make, pickups and deliveries, and we scheduled to be at our new home between 9 and noon on the first. We had hotel reservations in Durham for the intervening days and we planned to explore a little in both Durham and Raleigh, a twin cities metro area. Maybe even take a look at Duke and UNC; both schools were a short ride away from our new home. Maybe Maria would want to stick closer to home when her time came to go to college...I could hope. It would be nice for one of our kids to stay close to home.
The movers packed our boxes and our paintings, our crystal and our books, a few furniture pieces we had accumulated over the years. Eva and I watched and each parcel was an ache in our guts. At 9 Burt Voigt, from the Trustees, came over to get the keys to the house and make a quick inspection.
"I'm sure it's all fine inside" Burt said. We stood next to him and it was clear this was painful for him as well. He had wanted to keep us on. "Jon, Eva....thank you. I know you both feel deeply hurt and I know you wanted to stay here longer. If I could have....anyway, I want you to know you do have friends among the Trustees. There just aren't enough of us these days. But speaking for them, I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for the children for the last thirty years. You were the best principals we ever had here."
We stood there, until Eva hugged him and I shook his hand. We had no hard feelings towards Burt. Thankfully he didn't bring Alex Maitland, though. Him, we had very hard feelings about. "Thank you, Burt" Eva said as she let him go. "It was a pleasure, a real joy, for us to work here. We're going to miss this place. But we're moving on and that's that."
"Thanks for letting us work here" I added. "Towards the end, we might have done it for free. Well, not free. But we loved this experience here, Burt. Make sure you look after those kids. Make sure Chris and Mary do right by them."
"I'll do my best. Good luck to you in Durham. I know you'll do a great job there. Oh, when you leave, make sure you take one last drive by the school. There's something you should see." He left then and Eva and I looked out the window towards the school building. We saw some people gathering but couldn't really see much from that angle.
In the meantime, the movers finished and I paid them in advance for gas and tolls and meals, according to the estimate. The three college students who were being paid to drive Eva's and Vince's cars, plus my classic Ford (still lovingly maintained with 120,000 miles on it) to Durham showed up, I paid them also for gas, food and tolls, plus a down payment for the agreed on fee and they took the cars to meet us at the hotel that night. It was time to go.
One last look into the house from the foyer. The four of us hugged once more before we got into my SUV. "Well, this is it, gang. Say goodbye." We stared for a moment, then I started the car and drove towards the school for a last look and to see what was going on there. Even though it was summer, there were about 100 students there, standing on the steps and in front, saying nothing. There was a large sign being held by a few students.
'Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. G! Good luck! We'll miss you!' Simple, and it brought us all to tears again. I drove by as slow as I could, taking in all the faces, many of which were tearful as well. Then at the end of the line, I accelerated slowly as Eva and the kids looked out the rear window and I peeked out the rearview mirror.
"Those kids...." Eva said. It was all she could say. It was the last words any of us spoke until we stopped for breakfast an hour later. Those kids, indeed.