by Jim Wetton
“The mustard is just amazing, Mrs. McKeever. Didn’t think they sold mustard, did you?” Caroline added the bit of nostalgia despite the argument between John and Andrew over the rights to the next tab of chocolate.
While William attended to the boys, Lizzy pulled herself closer to Caroline. She covered her mouth with her gloved hand and quietly said, “Please, dear, call me Lizzy or better yet, you can always call me Mother. Completely up to you.”
Caroline smiled and reached out for Lizzy’s hands. “Mrs. McKeever, it would be an honor to finally be able to call you . . . mother.”
William glanced their way and rolled his eyes.
“How about some more chocolate, boys?” Lizzy announced, not wanting to acknowledge William’s reaction.
Lizzy, John and Andrew returned to the table, each boy with a plate full of every sweet imaginable. Lizzy had the odd feeling that upon returning to the table, she and the boys had entered into a silent impasse in a marital squabble.
“Everything OK, kids?” Lizzy muttered with a mouth full of fudge.
“Nothing for you to get involved with, Mother,” William scowled. “It’s just the same thing we argue about, day in and day out. That’s all.”
Lizzy glanced over at Caroline with a questioning look. She could see that Caroline’s cheeks were flaming red and her attention was solely on the large white birds over the bay.
“But!” William rose. “I’m sure that I’m in no position to even consider discussing any of this in the company of two suffragists. Hell, I hate to say it, but have to admit, I’m a little, what would the politicians call it, outnumbered at the moment?”
William leaned over and stole a piece of dark chocolate from John’s plate. The young boy scowled up at his father. “But, mark my words, ladies, bring in a few of my own boys and then let’s see where this conversation goes.”
With the two boys up to their elbows in chocolate, Lizzy studied her two older children. “Now, I know it’s none of my affairs, you know, the two of you and all.”
Lizzy was keenly aware that Caroline’s eyes were still focused across the bay while William’s were busy watching the young waitress delivering a plate of chocolate-covered walnuts to the next table over. Despite the lack of attention, she continued. “William, I just don’t understand why in heaven’s name that you object so!?” Lizzy finally got her son’s attention by accentuating his name, William.
“I’m just tired of it all, Mother, that’s all; just tired of it all,” William said after taking one last glance towards the waitress. He exhaled loudly and continued. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been hearing about the concept of equality since I knew how to walk.” He paused to see Lizzy’s reaction. “First it was you and Papa talking about the blacks. Then before any of the Civil War dead had a chance to decompose, you all were talking about the voting rights for those freedmen, and, well, and now . . . well, dammit all to hell, Mother! Papa’s dead, Mary Elizabeth is dead and for what? For trying to fix something that’s never been broken. Look at the Bible. Even God himself tells us that men are the dominant species and the role of the woman is to honor and obey the man . . . period!”
“So, you’ve picked up the cloth, now, have you?” Lizzy half-heartedly teased, though her eyes had a sting about them. “It’s really a shame that’s all you can remember about your papa and me, William. A real shame.”
Now it was Lizzy’s turn to stare out to the middle of the bay. The wind had picked up and though fairly mild from where they sat in Ghirardelli Square, Lizzy could still see white caps near a small island not a half mile off the wharf. She closed her eyes, said a short prayer and looked up at a flock of seagulls flying above. She craned her neck and smiled at their perfect formation. The one seagull leading while the others followed close behind. “Wonder if that lead seagull is a woman or a man? What do you think, William?”
“Now you’re being silly, Mother.” William tossed down his choice of chocolate in disgust.
“I’m guessing it’s a man, because he’s in charge,” John said confidently, always looking for his father’s accolades. “Papa says that men are always going to be in charge, right, Papa?”
William leaned over and ruffled John’s hair with a proud smile.
“What’s so wrong with both being in charge, John?” Lizzy turned in her seat and faced her grandson. She ignored the chocolate stains on the boy’s cheeks. “Isn’t it all right if your momma and your papa share who’s going to be in charge from time to time?”
“Well sure, Grandma.” The boy eyed the plate in front of him. “I guess it’s all OK as long as we get to eat and I know for sure that Papa doesn’t know how to cook so that means that Momma’s always gonna be in charge.”
“In charge enough to vote?” Lizzy ignored John’s puzzled look. Her question was intended for another.
“To do what?”
“That’s enough, Mother!” William rose from his chair in anger. The chair toppled over and began to tumble down the grassy hill in front of Ghirardelli’s. A young man grabbed it, brought it back up and handed it to a scowling William.
“Thought it was on its way to the wharf, the way it was plopping about. Didn’t know if I’d get it in time, but, hey, here you go, mister.”
The genuine smile on the man quickly faded as he took one more look at William. “Should have let it go, Mister, none of your business anyway. Now be off with you and let me continue trying to bring sense to these obstinate women, will you?”
This time it was Lizzy’s cheeks that reddened. She looked at her son, her eyes wide with astonishment. She jerked her head towards Caroline only to find that her eyes were focused back on the wind-whipped whitecaps on the water.
She frowned at Caroline’s absence of mind. She turned back to William and breathed in deeply. “Where in the hell has all this hate come from, William?” Lizzy ignored the shocked look coming from both boys. “This is not how your father and I raised you and progressive as I may be, no one should be treated the way you just treated that poor man. Dear God, William. What has happened to you!?”
She rose from her seat, took a cloth napkin from the table and wiped off the boys’ faces. Caroline had gone into a cocoon, something Lizzy realized must happen quite frequently. Her daughter-in-law’s eyes were glued out to some point on the surface of the bay. William sat back but said nothing. His demeanor was etched in stone, his face solid anger.
After cleaning the boys’ faces, Lizzy looked further towards the west. In between the city and the mass of land to the north, she watched a large freighter heading out to sea. She tried to change the mood, if it was at all possible. The breeze felt good against her face. The coolness helped bring down her own temperature, which was recently at her boiling point.
She looked at her two grandsons, both wide eyed and confused. She had to do something, anything to help out. She turned back to the boys, forced a smile and breathed in deep. “Wonder how long it takes for someone coming from Northern California to make it into the city? What do you think, John?” She looked over their heads and squinted her eyes to where the freighter had just recently been.
“Could save a day’s journey or even more with a bridge. What do you think, Andrew?”
“A what?” William interrupted awkwardly.
“Oh, never mind, just an outburst from a crazy progressive, that’s all.” Lizzy’s remarks back to her son immediately caused her to regret it. She paused and looked to the sky for a quick prayer. She turned towards John and Andrew. “Boys, care to join me for a walk to the end of that long pier across the street?” Her invitation aimed at her grandsons was eagerly accepted. With a smile and an encouraging nod towards Caroline, Lizzy reached out for John and Andrew’s hands. Before either parent could object, the three were down the hill, across the street and headed for Pier 45.
* * * *
“I know it’s Good Friday, but it sure feels like the one who is being betrayed here is your very own husband!”
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br /> “Oh, come on, William; now you’re being ridiculous.” Caroline snapped out of her silence. “Your mother’s just doing the best she can. She’s come a long way to see you and to see our children. For God’s sake, William, they’re her grandchildren. Can’t we let her enjoy them, spoil them; isn’t that what we do as parents? Why can’t you just embrace that for what it’s worth?”
William lowered his eyes in thought. He sighed in retrospect and sat down slowly. He reached for her hand and looked at her sheepishly. “You’re right.”
After moments of silence and reflection, William turned to Caroline. A crooked smile rose from his lips as he began slowly to repair the damage that he’d caused.
“It’s Easter this Sunday and it does seem like the boys really like being around her,” William began. “I tell you what. Let’s all get into our Sunday best, go to church for Easter and then to the Presidio for a picnic.”
“Wow, now that’s the William I married!” Caroline leaned over to give him a peck on his cheek. “I knew you were in there, somewhere. Now let’s find your mother to show her that you didn’t disappear amongst the whitecaps of San Francisco Bay.”
“No, let’s give her some time.” William looked across the street and towards the pier. When he finally located the three, he began to laugh. “Look at that.”
Caroline joined in and soon they were both laughing until it hurt. Across the street, John, Andrew and Lizzy were all holding hands and twirling themselves around in a circle. A few onlookers walked by them and pointed with laughter. Before William and Caroline could make their way to join them, they could see there were already several onlookers cheering them on.
The twirling continued, much to everyone’s enjoyment. All of a sudden, Andrew let go, which caused all three to tumble backwards onto the grass in a heap. Andrew’s laugh was contagious with its mixture of laughs and hiccups. And soon all three collapsed again on the grass. The crowd had dispersed once they lay on their backs. Their show for the masses was over. As they lay back, their eyes followed another family of seagulls flying above them, all in perfect formation.
Lizzy smiled. Must be another woman in the lead; I can just feel it.
* * * *
“See, it’s OK to be a little nutty once in a while, son,” Lizzy called over to William while picking pieces of grass out of her hair. “We may have different views on a few things, but I still believe that the value of faith and family will prevail against any storm that may or may not be brewing ahead of us.”
With the dilemma of getting up off the ground still an issue, it was little Andrew who came to Lizzy’s rescue. She felt a light touch on her shoulder. “C-c-c-ca-an I help, help, helpp you up, Gra-gra-ma?”
Lizzy closed the rest of her world down. At that moment, it was just her and little Andrew and nothing was going to stop her from cherishing ever single second of it.
Lizzy knew about Andrew’s speech problems. Caroline had written to her several times describing the diagnosis and treatment. She had often scolded herself for not being more active in reaching out to her but from the words written by her oldest son, none of her helpful suggestions were ever considered. In William’s words, “The boy just needs to grow out of it, that’s all.”
Caroline had written several letters about a specialist whom they’d taken him to who said that his stuttering was his own way of forming a coping mechanism. It was his way of shielding himself from something or someone. She’d written that once William had found out that his son was seeing a psychotherapist, William had stormed around the house for days and forbid any further connection with, as he put it, “a whack of a want-to-be-doctor.”
When Lizzy had first arrived in San Francisco, she thought little of Caroline’s letters. To her, Andrew was her grandson. His hazel eyes and long eyelashes warmed her to the love the little boy wanted to share. If what Caroline wrote was true, then William needed to open up and embrace his son more. Enough so there’d be no doubt that little Andrew was indeed loved, especially by his father.
She smiled as she looked at Andrew, with his eyes trying to gain the attention of his father. As she turned, she looked over at her son to see his response. Her heart sank when she saw William’s eyes closely trained on Pier 43 where a group of young ladies were laughing and smiling over at him.
She forced herself to look to the ground, count to five and breathe. She looked over at Andrew, his hazel eyes beckoning her to call out to him. “Oh, my knight in shining armor, how did you know that I would be in such need of a gallant and handsome prince? Oh sir, do help me up if you please!”
“Oh, Graaanddma, it’s just m’me. There’s n-no pprince here, it’s, it’s just me . . . , Andrew.”
Lizzy held out her hand as Andrew took a firm grip to it and pulled her up to her feet. Once upright, she looked around and noticed Andrew looking up at her. His grin was wide, just as wide as both eyes. “I, I di-did it, Gr-grandma, I di did it, I rose you up, all on m my own.”
“Yes, you did, my little prince, yes you did!”
Once up, she took Andrew’s hands and waved for John to follow them down to the end of the pier. After fifty yards, they looked back and began to laugh. Far behind them, and neither in much rush were William and Caroline. Both walking side by side and to Lizzy’s astonishment, both hand in hand.
“This has been quite an awkward evening, don’t you think, Caroline?” William commented, his eyes on his mother and their two sons. He laughed again as he watched John assisting his little brother in finding a proper seat for their grandmother. “They are the epitome of proper gentlemen, I do have to give them that. I’ve, I mean we’ve, raised our boys to be men. Proper gentlemen, always looking out for the fairer sex.”
Caroline guffawed slightly as she looked at him from the corner of her eye. Fairer sex indeed.
As they got closer, he added, “It’s still rather odd, her coming all this way. After so many years. Just so odd. Any idea why she’d make such a trip?”
Caroline’s answer was camouflaged by an array of squawks and feathers from above . . . much to her relief.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Her Family’s Coming Home
1906
The choir sang out. The stained-glass windows rattled. The pillars holding up the balcony seemed like they were going to come tumbling down. Lizzy felt goose bumps from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. It was, she admitted later, one of her all-time favorite hymns. She remembered how special this day was, not only to her, but most importantly to her father. Other than his annual Christmas Eve service, Easter was the sermon he’d spend hours preparing for and always delivered with such passion.
She sat with pride in the front pew alongside her own son, William. Caroline looked lovely wearing a flowery dress with a wide-brimmed bonnet that matched the pastel colors of her Easter dress. To her right sat John and Andrew. Both young men were dressed in their finest Easter suits, John with a dark blue tie and Andrew with his favorite red bow tie.
The pastor raised his arms for the congregation to stand. Lizzy felt the lump in her throat when the organist began to play. She looked down the pew and winked at Andrew. When he puckered up his lips to blow her a kiss, it almost made her break down and cry. Not only was this song her favorite Easter hymn, it was her father’s favorite as well. She joined in with emotion as the congregation began to sing. Lizzy made it through the first verse before she could sing no more:
Jesus Christ is Risen Today, Alleluia
Our Triumphant Holy Day, Alleluia
Who Did Once Upon the Cross, Alleluia
Suffer to Redeem Our Loss, Alleluia!
Lizzy mouthed the words to the rest of the song. Each time she tried to actually sing, her voice would crack and her heart would break. She listened as others sang, staring at the stained-glass etching of Jesus on the cross. She thought of her father and wished she could hear him sing this song one more time. She looked up at the etching of Jesus and thanked Him for al
lowing her to reconnect with her West Coast family. A visit that started out on rocky ground had begun to blossom into a true family experience.
Lizzy felt complete and at peace. Her father had always told her that when looking for a real sense of peace, look no farther than straight up. She reminded herself that she needed to heed her father’s advice more often. Just need Nellie, Henry and their little munchkins here today as well. Then it would truly be a blessed Easter. No, Lizzy, it’s a blessed Easter because I am looking up.
* * * *
“President Roosevelt told me that if I was to see anything while in San Francisco, I must see the Presidio.” Lizzy’s reference to the president caught John and Andrew’s attention. She invited the two boys to join her on her blanket. The surrounding trees shaded them from the western sun. The dense fog that had settled in the valley earlier that morning had now disappeared.
Lizzy had asked William to move the blanket three times but each time the sun would find a way to remain blocked by the row of trees outlining the grassy area. Despite the coolness, Lizzy proceeded to tell her grandsons how their own grandmother actually knew the president of the United States.
Lizzy started out by sharing how she had met Roosevelt and how the two had grown close. She told them that she actually spent more time with him before becoming president, but that he still called on her for advice and counsel.
“The president actually asks you about things, Grandma?” John’s interest in what Lizzy had to say was encouraging. She was becoming worried that she’d spent too much time with Andrew, but with the topic at hand, it was John who took center stage with curiosity.
They spoke for over an hour, John never tiring. Andrew sat patiently, but Lizzy didn’t know just how much he was digesting. At one point, Andrew’s eyes grew wide with excitement when Lizzy told them that President Roosevelt had visited this very spot just three years ago. She told them that he was escorted here by the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Calvary Regiment and they were some of the very same soldiers that charged up San Juan Hill with the president. She had to add a side note that he wasn’t president at the time, but would be very soon after.