Don't Put the Boats Away

by Ames Sheldon

He looks back at the audience. “Can everyone hear me? Do you all have copies of the words so you can read along if we don’t enunciate properly? Yes? All right then.” He coughs. “Here with me are my daughter Abby on keyboard and vocals; my son Ned on drums and vocals; my son Ernie on bass; my daughter Violet on wooden block and maracas; my niece, Retta, on flute and vocals; my nephew, Joe, on guitar and vocals; and Olivia on hand bells.”

  Everyone in the audience applauds. Eleanor’s mouth is trembling.

  He goes on. “The words of these songs are mostly by me, and the tunes were initially by me, but they have been perfected by my nephew, Joe.”

  He pauses. “This production is not as polished as we’d have liked.”

  Joe coughs.

  He turns back to his group. He nods to Abby, who suddenly makes him think of the grandmother she was named for; Abby has the same sense of poise that Abba had. Abby starts playing the introduction while he blows his sax.

  Ned sings:

  As before,

  Now we’re here together once more,

  Hearts stand still, waiting till

  We obtain

  A full picture we can sustain,

  When apart, in our hearts.

  They all sing the chorus:

  Sea View!

  Summers spent at Sea View

  Seem the same but still new;

  How do you do, Sea View?

  Ned sings:

  Memory

  Brings back scenes from our history:

  Tales of old, some untold

  Till we share

  Reminiscences and compare

  Stories of those we love.

  They all sing:

  Sea View!

  A place, and an idea too,

  Touching all that we do

  Our whole lives through: Sea View.

  Then Ned:

  Then we sing

  Songs reminding us of the things

  That we’ve shared. Then and there,

  We are bound,

  As if by the parts of a round:

  Family harmony.

  Loudly they sing the final chorus:

  Sea View!

  The place where we grew

  Into a family, now, who

  Is part of you, Sea View.

  When the final instrumental section with piano and drums comes to an end, the audience applauds enthusiastically. Looking over his shoulder, he’s struck by Retta’s smile, which is so like his mother’s, and although her hair’s a darker shade, it’s red like Eleanor’s was when he was a boy. He’s very pleased that she’s going to medical school at Case Western Reserve University in the fall.

  He brings himself back to the present moment, saying, “This next song expresses a sentiment I suspect we all feel at times.”

  Nat sings:

  Let’s not put the boats away!

  Maybe we’ll stay for one more day,

  Cook out once more and watch the sun

  Setting red and gold in Ipswich Bay.

  Then Retta sings:

  Let’s not close the house up tight!

  Maybe this fall we’ll spend a night

  And watch the water turning gray

  In the Indian summer’s fading light.

  Then Abby sings:

  Let’s climb round the rocks to see

  What else the tide’s left on the shore.

  We’ll take these last treasures home

  To keep with us till summer comes once more.

  Then Nat sings:

  See the cove and mica beach!

  The tide is out, the raft’s in reach!

  We just can’t wait a moment more,

  Oh, let us run down to the beach!

  Then they all sing:

  Okay, let’s not put the boats away!

  Maybe we’ll stay for one more day,

  Cook out once more and watch the sun

  Setting red and gold in Ipswich Bay;

  Setting red and gold in Ipswich Bay.

  The audience goes wild. Uncle Drew whistles shrilly while someone yells “Yay!” and someone else calls “Whoo-hoo!”

  “Crab Rock” comes next. The band members all sing all the verses of that song. Retta and Abby play the melody on piano and flute, Joey takes a solo on his guitar during the instrumental break, and then Ernie has a turn on his bass while Violet, holding a wooden block and drumstick and with a proud grin on her face, provides punctuation. Ned’s steady drumming continues throughout. Nat notices that Violet, the spitting image of Dorie, plays to the audience just as her mother used to do. More whistles follow.

  Then Nat says, “This next song might be a little sentimental for some. See what you think.”

  Olivia starts “There Are Times When I Remember” by striking her bells, and then they launch into a jazzy tune. Joe, who looks just like his father Ron now that he’s grown, sings the first two verses. All the kids sing the chorus. Then Ernie, all skin and bones and as awkward as Nat was at that age, takes the last verse.

  Gus puts his arm around Harriet, and she leans into him.

  During “Magic Stories,” Nat gets to play a mellow solo on his sax. They follow with “Get Off That Raft!” which is met with chuckles from the audience.

  Nat says, “And finally, a song entitled ‘Good Night Sea View.’” Abby sings first, then Ned, then Abby. Toward the end, the music swells, and Olivia plays the bells as Ned sings the last verses.

  Happy tears stream down Nat’s cheeks. The music is so beautiful, and Abby and Ned have fabulous singing voices, thanks to their mother. He’s grateful to Dorie for that.

  The audience members all jump up and erupt with sustained applause and cheers. Several of them shout, “Encore! Encore!”

  They reprise “Sea View Song.” Then Nat says, “That’s all, folks. We can’t take any more.” Turning his back on the audience, he moves over to the case for his saxophone. He pulls off the mouthpiece and blows to clear it out. The kids put their instruments away.

  “Wow, Uncle Nat,” says Retta. “That was so much fun!”

  Abby chimes in. “It was great, Dad, really great. The audience loved us!”

  “Absolutely the best high ever,” says Joe.

  Once Nat manages to pull himself together, he moves toward the edge of the porch. His parents are sitting in their seats holding hands. Everyone else hovers nearby.

  “Wow, Nat.” Harriet’s voice is choked up.

  Aunt Jessica says, “Bravo, Nat.”

  Taking the seat next to his father, he asks, “Well, Father, what did you think?”

  George’s eyes are wet, which doesn’t surprise Nat—he’s seen music make his father cry before. His father says, “Congratulations, Nathaniel. You’re a fine musician. You make me proud.”

  His mother leans over to him. “That was marvelous, Nat.” Her eyes brim with tears.

  Joe says, “I have a feeling we’ll be singing these songs forever.”

  Harriet nods. “I love the lyric ‘We are bound, as if by the parts of a round: family harmony.’ It’s such a great image! With these songs, you’ve created a real glue that will help keep our family singing together for a long time to come.”

  “I hope so, Harriet,” Nat replies. “I don’t know what else to say. We loved doing it. Had so much fun.”

  A little while later George and Eleanor sit with Harriet and Nat gazing out at the water. The sunset has faded from view. It’s dark, though stars are twinkling overhead.

  George says, “Maybe I should have let you go to music school, Nathaniel. You’re very talented.”

  Nat’s heart feels as if it might burst. He’s been waiting his entire life to hear his father say something like this—it doesn’t matter a bit that it’s too late.

  “You were right about Dorie, Father,” Nat says. “Once I chose her and we started having babies so quickly, that finished off my chances of a professional music career. Not that I was good enough or driven enough to succeed at it. Anyway, I can’t regret any of it, because h
ow else would I have gotten these remarkable children?”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that,” George tells him softly.

  Harriet says, “You know, Father, it was wanting to win your love that led me to graduate school and then to work for Sutton Chemical. That’s where I learned how different we are. But my job at the foundation has shown me how much like you I actually am. I really am your daughter, Father. I learned so much from you about being hard-nosed and realistic. Even if I had to get tough on you about Tuck.”

  “You were right to do so, Harriet. Tuck Foster sure managed to pull the wool over my eyes. I’ve always been impressed by how capable and adaptable you are, and I’m happy that you’re my successor because I know you’ll lead the foundation well into the future. The foundation will probably be my most significant legacy.”

  They all sit quietly for a few minutes. Then Eleanor clears her throat. “Doesn’t it seem like Eddie’s right here with us?”

  “I know what you mean,” his sister answers.

  “Indeed,” says his father.

  Nat sighs. “Yes.”

  Acknowledgments

  Once again I am grateful to my late uncle Benjamin Hazard Stevens, who inspired this novel as well as Eleanor’s Wars. Most of the song lyrics here came from him.

  Many other members of my family have been enormously helpful as well in providing stories and emotional support during the creation of this novel. Thanks especially to Phebe Miner, Anna Phelps, Terry Sheldon, Sallie Sheldon, Jack Sheldon, Phebe Richards, Pete Stevens, Mary Stevens, and Helen Stevens.

  Thank you to Marylee Hardenbergh, Louise Miner, Sally Power, Heather Huyck, and Judy Healey, who have accompanied me along this path.

  Thanks to Molly Woehrlin, John Brooks, and Brent Dack for providing a tour of the Malt-O-Meal Company mill in Northfield, Minnesota, and thanks to Kate Roberts at the Minnesota Historical Society for providing access to interviews of millers that helped to inform early chapters of this book.

  Mike Crandall was an enormous help in figuring out the characteristics of the fungicide Harriet Sutton creates for Sutton Chemical. Alex Cirillo helped on the workings of an industrial chemistry lab. Janice Gepner and Natalie Rasmussen consulted on the teaching of high school chemistry. Ann Hutchins provided invaluable insight into teaching at a private girls’ school.

  Conversations with Pat Nanoff and Peter Butler, along with sections of Wheelock Whitney’s memoir Keep Moving, helped inform my understanding of alcoholism and treatment.

  Lucia Newell was a great resource for information about performing jazz, while Kay Baker provided background on the St. Joseph’s Hospital Auxiliary. Chalmers Hardenbergh assisted with train routes and schedules, Rob Epler helped with Latin, and Hannah Tozer explained tuition remission.

  A special thank you to Jan Woolman for her history of Blake School, entitled Expecting Good Things of All, especially the chapter on the merger. Stan and Lucy Shepard and Ted and Nancy Weyerhaeuser helped with my understanding of the St. Paul Academy–Summit School merger.

  Many thanks to Fred Martin for explaining the unethical practice of churning stocks, Connie Paiement for rules about taxation on the sale of Sutton Chemical, and Allen Bettis for his help on the workings of family foundations.

  Quite a few librarians and archivists helped me find information that enabled this story to be grounded in historically accurate facts. Special thanks to David Null at the University of Wisconsin Archives in Madison, Erin George and Rebecca Toov at the University of Minnesota Archives in Minneapolis, Weston Tate at Cornell University Archives, Erika Gordon at Rutgers University Archives, Helen Burke at the Minneapolis Central Library’s Business Library, Jamie Stanley at the Northfield (Minnesota) Public Library, Hayes Scriven at the Northfield Historical Society, and the staff in the Minnesota Historical Society Library.

  Leonard G. Wilson’s Medical Revolution in Minnesota: A History of the University of Minnesota Medical School (Midewiwin Press, St. Paul, 1989) was an excellent resource for information about the early days of heart surgery.

  A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer (Harper Collins Publishers, 2010) was an engaging tale with lots of historical information about the development of penicillin.

  Interchemical Corporation, which no longer exists, was the primary model for Sutton Chemical.

  Alice S. Rossi was a source for Dr. Pennington’s comments about women scientists in chapter one. See her paper entitled “Women Scientists: Problems and Prospects,” Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago, which was delivered to a conference on women in science at the Wisconsin Center, Madison, Wisconsin, on March 19, 1966.

  Any errors of fact or interpretation that I have made are solely attributable to me.

  I am deeply indebted to the members of the writers’ group hosted by Roger Barr, to Roger, Cynthia Kraack, Charlie Locks, Loren Taylor, Terry Newby, Kathy Kerr, and Jim Lundy, for their critical insights as they read the manuscript, their kind support, and their ongoing encouragement.

  Thanks to Mary Logue for her most helpful developmental editing and Pat Carlson for her precision in copyediting.

  I am very grateful to Brooke Warner, Lauren Wise, and Julie Metz of She Writes Press and to Crystal Patriarche and Tabitha Bailey of SparkPoint Studio for teaching me a great deal about hybrid publishing and publicity as well as for their excellent professional work on my behalf.

  I need to thank my husband Andy for his great suggestions of titles for both of my published novels. Most of all I wish to thank him for his patience, marketing chops, and continuing efforts to make me laugh every day.

  About the Author

  Ames Sheldon worked as a reporter for two small-town newspapers in Minnesota before becoming lead author and associate editor of Women’s History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States, which ignited her passion for studying and writing about the history of women in America. After that, she worked as a development officer, raising funds for the Sierra Club in San Francisco, the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, the Minneapolis Public Library, and a variety of other nonprofits. She lives with her husband in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

  Her recent novel Eleanor’s Wars won the Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best New Voice: Fiction in 2016. You can contact her through her website amessheldon.com

  SELECTED TITLES FROM SHE WRITES PRESS

  She Writes Press is an independent publishing company founded to serve women writers everywhere. Visit us at www.shewritespress.com.

  The Belief in Angels by J. Dylan Yates $16.95, 978-1-938314-64-3

  From the Majdonek death camp to a volatile hippie household on the East Coast, this narrative of tragedy, survival, and hope spans more than fifty years, from the 1920s to the 1970s.

  A Cup of Redemption by Carole Bumpus $16.95, 978-1-938314-90-2

  Three women, each with their own secrets and shames, seek to make peace with their pasts and carve out new identities for themselves.

  Bittersweet Manor by Tory McCagg $16.95, 978-1-938314-56-8

  A chronicle of three generations of love, manipulation, entitlement, and disappointed expectations in an upper-middle-class New England family.

  Tasa’s Song by Linda Kass $16.95, 978-1-63152-064-8

  From a peaceful village in eastern Poland to a partitioned post-war Vienna, from a promising childhood to a year living underground, Tasa’s Song celebrates the bonds of love, the power of memory, the solace of music, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

  Things Unsaid by Diana Y. Paul $16.95, 978-1-63152-812-5

  A family saga of three generations fighting over money and obligation—and a tale of survival, resilience, and recovery.

  Eden by Jeanne Blasberg $16.95, 978-1-63152-188-1

  As her children and grandchildren assemble for Fourth of July weekend at Eden, the Meister family’s grand summer cottage on the Rhode Island shore, Becca decides it’s time to introduce the daughter she gave up for adoption fifty years ago.
>