without his cane?” They all laughed at his antics as he hobbled around the room.
Diane had never really thought about the age of her grandparents, but thought this was a good time to ask. “By the way, how old are you two, Grandpa? Tell me—all kidding aside—what is your real age?”
“Well dear, let me see…..Hmmm…..I don’t seem to have enough fingers and toes to figure out the answer to that question. Let’s test your math skills,” he said jokingly, knowing full well how intelligent she was. “Selene and Alan were both thirty-six when you were born, and Cybele and I were both thirty-two when your parents were born. So, how old would that make us? Ancient—no doubt old as dirt!”
“Eighty-two!” blurted Diane. “But how can that be? All the other people I know who are your age really are crotchety! Oops! No offense!” She looked at Cybele and back at Phillip for an answer to this quandary—hoping she had not hurt their feelings.
“It must be our clean living all these years!” He leaned over to Diane and whispered. “Here’s the real secret—Cybele watches me like a hawk—has our whole lives. If I do so much as even look cross-eyed at sweets or any kind of junk food, she smacks me—hard—and I don’t like pain,” joked Philip. “I tell you—I can’t get away with anything. After all, a man would like to have a donut or a piece of pie once in awhile!”
“Alright, if you want to turn into a tub of lard, go right ahead! We could change your name to Chubsy Ubsy or Rolly Poley! We could keep some lard handy so we can grease you when you want to get through doorways or into the seat at the theater! We could put heavy duty truck shocks on your car too—and buy one of those lifts to help you get up the stairs,” chided Cybele, as she painted graphic images of how humongous he could become if he were allowed to eat junk food.
Philip responded by leaning forward and sticking out his tongue at Cybele.
“Philip!” Cybele scolded, then raised her hand and pretended she was going to hit him.
He screamed, “See what I mean?” he yelled at Diane and started running around the room with Cybele chasing closely behind. They ended by falling on the bed laughing.
“You’ll be the death of me yet, Philip!” Cybele said laughing loudly.
Diane watched her old grandparents acting like children and laughed right along with them.
“What a pair you are! How old did you say you are?” asked Diane.
“Twenty-five!” they both said at the same time.
“I believe it!” said Diane. “I want to be just like you when I grow up!”
“Who says we’re grown up?” quipped Philip, as they got up off the bed. “I don’t plan on ever growing up and getting old! That’s for people with no imagination.”
“I’m with you, dear,” said Cybele, as she grabbed his face with both hands and kissed Philip soundly on the mouth with a loud smack.
“See what a lucky man I am!” said Philip. “You keep me young, Cybele.”
“I think I’m the lucky one,” Diane exclaimed.
After a group hug, Diane said, “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” She gestured with her hand around the room.
“We hope so, dear. But you haven’t seen everything yet. We’ve made a few changes in your closet too. Come—have a look,” said Cybele as she led Diane into the closet.
There was a large safe in the closet that Cybele and Philip had installed when Diane was eight years old. They understood the importance of privacy for a young girl and had told her this would be the perfect place to keep her completed journals, sketchbooks, and other private things while she was travelling with her parents. From that time on, that is exactly what Diane did with the safe. Although she trusted her family completely, it was a good feeling to have a place in the world that was entirely her own. This had given her more freedom of expression than she might otherwise have had.
Diane walked into the closet and looked around. The last time she had seen it there were rods for hanging clothes and a couple of shelves. Now the spacious walk-in closet had rods, stacks of new shelves and drawers, and a rack for shoes. As usual, her things were going to look miniscule in here.
Diane’s wardrobe at this point consisted of four pairs of shoes—running shoes, sandals, hiking boots, and dress shoes; four pairs of socks; three pairs of shorts, two pairs of jeans, and one pair of sweat pants; three short sleeved shirts, two sleeveless shirts, and two long sleeved shirts; one wool sweater; one sweat shirt; a lightweight jacket; one dress; one skirt; four pairs of underwear and four bras; one swim suit; a watch; and two hats. She did not even own a coat, since it was not needed where they had last lived in South America.
“I sure don’t need all this space,” Diane said. “Hey! I’ve got it! We could store some of your clothes in here too,” she quipped. “Or—maybe we could store all the extra linen for the house, or park a car or two in here.” They all laughed at that.
“You’re going to need more clothes while you’re here, so we’re all going on some shopping trips,” said Cybele. “You need some jackets, sweaters, and at least one new coat, but preferably two—one for casual occasions and one for more formal occasions.”
“And you’ll need hats, gloves, and boots,” said Philip. He always enjoyed shopping with Cybele. “We can buy some of what you’ll need here, but we could also go to Charleston to shop, do some exploring, take some photos, and have some fresh seafood. I’ll bet you haven’t had any good soft-shell crabs or fresh shrimp in a long time. And we could go on a carriage ride and take the walking tour through the historic district. Maybe we’ll get to see some ghosts.”
“We could also go to Asheville to shop at the boutiques and enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway while we’re there,” offered Cybele.
“That sounds like fun,” said Diane, wishing she had a new friend who could go along with them. Even though she enjoyed spending time with her grandparents, she longed for a friend her own age. It was something for which she had been praying for years.
“You didn’t change the bathroom, did you?” asked Diane. It already had a big bathtub, shower, double sink, and commode. She wasn’t sure what they could possibly have done to make it better.
“We did have it painted. And we bought some towels, rugs, and curtains,” said Cybele. “We wanted it to match everything else. Now that you’re a young lady, we probably won’t be making huge changes again. But then, you never know.” She smiled sheepishly at both of them.
Diane gave each of her grandparents a big hug and kiss. “Thank you both for my beautiful room! I L-O-V-E it!”
Their lives in Rosemont seemed an idyllic existence.
Through the Rose Gate...Chapters One and Two Page 3