Ari looked at Great-Grandma Esther. “Are you sure you want us to have the painting, Grandma?”
“Ari, you and Leah are more like Manny and me than anyone else in the family. You can’t imagine what joy it gives me that you two are together. Even so, don’t neglect your relationship. Keep it growing, and you will get more out of life than you can imagine.”
“Grandma, thank you so much for leaving the painting to us. We will always treasure it,” Leah promised as she hugged Great-Grandma Esther.
* * *
At lunch Leah told us she loved sailing, and Larry mentioned she was one of the top sailors at their sailing club in Florida.
“We have a Pearson Ensign at the dock. My dad says that it is great for beginners. You can teach me,” Ari immediately suggested to her. “I’ve never learned to sail.”
“No problem,” an excited Leah replied.
Joan and I looked at each other in amazement. I had repeatedly tried to get Ari interested in sailing, but he was only interested in motorized craft. Until today, of course, when he discovered Leah loved sailing.
The twenty-two-foot Ensign was perfect to learn on. It was quite stable being a keel boat. It had a sail plan to allow for the precision guidance of an experienced hand, or the clumsiness of a new sailor, but in addition, would keep a new sailor from getting in trouble.
The two of them were inseparable all week and I noticed whenever one of them was assigned a job, the other would assist. When Leah was asked to wash dishes the dishwasher, there was Ari helping. I had to look twice to make sure it was my Ari who was voluntarily assisting someone with a household chore.
Monday dawned cloudy, but with pleasant temperatures. I reminded Ari he was supposed to get all eight of my antique cars out of their garage and wash the garage floor. So, Ari and Leah headed out to the garage. They were both dressed in matching short-sleeve t-shirts, denim shorts, and running shoes. Apparently they had a number of matching outfits they planned on wearing this week.
Ari drove each car, with Leah as the passenger, out of the garage the twenty feet or so needed to clear the garage floor. But my Auburn hadn’t run in years, so Ari would have to use our John Deere tractor to tow it out of the garage. He and Leah crawled under the Auburn to attach tow cables to its suspension.
They decided Ari would drive the tractor and Leah would sit in the Auburn’s driver’s seat while steering and braking, if needed. When she stepped in the car, she stood up on the seat and shouted, “Ari, my legs are too short to reach the brake pedal.”
“No problem, wait one,” he yelled, jumping off the tractor and running into the garage. He returned with an armload of seat cushion foam padding which he stuffed behind and under Leah.
“How’s that?”
“Magnifico,” she exclaimed. “Vamanos Hombre.”
Ari slowly took up the slack on the tow cable and carefully pulled the old Auburn out of the garage. As soon as it was clear, Leah hit the brakes and with a mighty effort using both arms, set the parking brake.
They took out brooms, hoses, buckets, and mops. Periodically peals of laughter would come out of the garage as they worked. They discussed things endlessly and often sounded like they were in a heated debate, but never in a mean way. If nothing else they would end their discussions, it seemed, with agreeing to disagree.
It took most of the day for them to complete the job and put the cars back inside, but the floor of the garage was spotless. They were pretty clean as well. I think they put as much soap suds on each other as on the garage floor.
On Tuesday morning Larry, Danielle, Joan, and I rose early to go for a run. It was a bright and sunny June day, with a light westerly breeze—a perfect day for sailing. As we left our yard we saw sweat covered Leah, Ari, Austin, Ann, and Sara just returning from their run. I suggested that this would be an excellent day for Leah and Ari to go sailing.
Marsha didn’t come out with any of us for a run. Larry told me she was starting to withdraw from the family. She was seeing a therapist, but in the midst of that joy filled family week, Marsha seemed to only see gloom and confusion in her world. Larry said her doctors were trying out some new medications, but nothing seemed to work. I even tried talking to her, but only received empty smiles and one-word answers.
Great-Grandma Esther, Ann, and Samantha prepared scrambled eggs, lox, and onions for everyone’s breakfast. It was always a joy to watch Esther cooking. It was as if she was preparing love to give to us, instead of food.
After thanking them for a wonderful breakfast, Leah and Ari headed down to the Ensign. They were amazingly methodical in preparation for their day of sailing. After taking the cover off, they examined all the gear and pulled out life vests. They checked the fuel supply in the little outboard engine, as well as its oil level. Just when I thought they would get underway, they came back to the house.
I asked if anything was wrong.
“Nope,” Ari replied. “We just need some stuff.”
Off they went to the kitchen. Ari dug out a large picnic cooler and started making tuna fish sandwiches. He put spicy mustard on one side of the sandwich and mayo on the other. I saw him do this before and told him I thought it tasted awful.
Naturally, Leah said she loved the tuna sandwiches that way. Meanwhile, she put chips in a plastic bag, quartered a pickle, and put ice into the cooler to keep it at a safe temperature for the food.
Esther looked like she was in heaven, watching them prepare for their sailing adventure. She went to the pantry and found a jar of her canned peaches for them to take, as well as some of her cookies.
Bottled water and soda followed the food into the cooler, which was heavy by now. Without even discussing it, each one of them took an end of the cooler and walked down to the Ensign. I noticed that Ari always boarded the boat first and then turned to help Leah get on board.
Watching him work, Ari’s muscular body reminded me of stories I heard about his great-grandfather Manny, but Ari was slimmer. Raising the main sail on the Ensign was an easy one-person job. Not for those two. They both gripped the halyard and pulled together until the main sail was up. It was the same when raising the jib.
Leah was indeed an excellent sailor. When I left the dock, the sail boat was always under power until I was clear of the dock and other boats. Not Leah. As soon as Ari had untied all the dock lines and jumped on board, she pulled in the main and jib, neatly sailing out of the slip.
“You think they’re mature enough to be out there all day like that and stay safe?” Joan asked me.
“Leah keeps Ari on an even emotional keel whenever they’re together. She is quite protective of him and he laughs more around her than at any other time in his life. Look how she looks at him. Now watch how Ari looks at her, how he talks to her, and how he keeps an eye on her. The only time I’ve heard him get mad at her was when she wasn’t paying attention while they were working in the garage and she banged her arm on a vice. He was upset that she wasn’t taking care of herself. Believe me if a shark jumped out of the water to attack Leah, I assure you the shark would only be suitable for sushi by the time Ari finished with it. They absolutely will be safe.”
Joan turned her attention to Grandma Esther. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I fight with Ari to get anything done, but when Leah asks it’s sure, Leah, or right away, Leah—and always in a pleasant tone of voice. He had one of his mood swings when Austin made a joke about his love of engines. Ari was ready to take Austin’s head off, but Leah put her hand on Ari’s arm and he calmed down immediately then ignored the teasing. And sometimes I’ve worried that Ari was so focused on what he wanted to do, that he would never be concerned with someone else’s feelings. Now I think he was saving all his compassion for Leah.”
Joan watched through the window as Ari and Leah finished their last-minute preparations. “You know, Grandma,” she sat down at the table beside Esther, “Larry and Danielle told me that Leah is their most obstinate child. She does what she wants to do and the conseq
uences be damned. Ari is the same way. But get the two of them together and they cooperate and problem solve like they were perfect children. They laugh so much sometimes I think that laughter’s real name is Ari and Leah”
* * *
As soon as the Ensign moved away from the dock, Leah taught Ari how to tend the jib.
“Leah,” Ari asked,” do I pull the Jib in tight?”
“Not tight. When I show you about different point of sail, the jib position will change.”
She asked Ari about it, and he told her it was a device that he and I designed and built for his cousin, Jonathan, so he could come on the boat and enjoy sailing.
“We had to make a couple of versions to get it right,” he’d said. “The first version I was calling, Jonathan’s Instant Sailor Bracket. But I had the back shaped all wrong, so when Jonathan tried it, he laughed and called it Instant Sailor Misery. We reshaped it and the next sunny day we could hardly get him out of the sailboat. He loved sailing.”
Back out on the water, Leah was teaching Ari how to watch the wind and manage the main sail and tiller. He looked quite happy, having so many things to keep track of. And Leah; she was just happy. While sailing down the lake from the dock in Kirkland, Ari was piloting the boat and Leah was sitting adjacent to him while she tended the jib.
“So, what do you think of sailing?” she asked him.
“Well, aside from the gentle sound of the water lapping against the hull, the peaceful movement of the boat knifing its way through the water, the cool breeze and warm sun, the marvelous sight of our sails against the blue sky, being powered silently by the wind and sunshine, and the opportunity to share this with the warmest, prettiest, and brightest girl I know…I guess it’s okay.”
“Just okay?” she teased.
Without taking his left hand off the tiller, Ari put his right hand on the back of Leah’s neck, pulled her face toward his and kissed her
Her eyes still wide, she stared at Ari in surprise. "You should know. I’ve been waiting all my young life for that kiss—and believe me, it was worth the wait.”
Ari pulled his face a small distance away from hers, smiled, and kissed the tip of her nose.
As the sun became low in the afternoon sky, it started to cool off. Leah grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her and Ari. After another hour of sailing, wrapped up in the blanket and leaning against each other, they decided to call it a day. They docked the little Ensign and tied her up to the slip then took down and stored the sails.
Nathan and Samantha came down to the dock and asked how the day of sailing went. Ari and Leah both confirmed they’d had a great time and Ari said he couldn’t wait to go sailing again. Nathan and Samantha offered to help with anything, and were told they could grab the cooler.
* * *
Before Ari gave his Bar Mitzvah speech the Rabbi told us he knew Ari was quite goal oriented, and when Ari put his mind to it, he could learn anything he wanted to.
The Rabbi made this statement because Ari was doing so poorly in his preparation for his Bar Mitzvah the Rabbi was nearly ready to call it off six weeks earlier.
When I learned how far behind Ari was, I’d talked to the Rabbi and assured him Ari would be completely prepared by the time of his Bar Mitzvah. With my, let’s call it encouragement, Ari learned five months of material in six weeks. Apparently only Joan and I thought he could get it done.
The Rabbi was amazed Ari could learn so much in such short a time. When the pressure was on and he had to learn a lot quickly, it almost seemed easy for him.
During the summer after sixth grade, Leah and Ari decided to read Centennial, by Michener. Leah was amazed how quickly Ari had read the book and then could quote different parts of it when they discussed it. It puzzled her no end that he didn’t like school—except math, of course, because my encouragement would have been impossible to live with if Ari didn’t do well in math.
After Ari’s discussion of the day’s Parsha at his Bar Mitzvah, he told the assembled, “I would like to thank the Rabbi and Cantor who guided me through my Bar Mitzvah preparation. I would like to thank my family for all the encouragement I received to complete my Bar Mitzvah studies. A special thanks to my sister, Samantha, who started the Kids Don’t Belong in Wheelchairs campaign that became my Bar Mitzvah project as well.”
The Rabbi appeared rather surprised when Ari read an additional line he had apparently secretly added at the end of his Bar Mitzvah speech.
Ari looked right at Leah and said, “Lastly, I wish to thank God, who puts partners in our lives that lift us when we’re down, share the joys of our successes, and have such insight into our character that they can easily remove anger from our hearts and replace it with peace and joy.”
Leah was beaming at him while he spoke that final line, and Great-Grandma Esther was beaming at both of them
Chapter Twelve
~ The End of an Era
As the days and weeks passed, Joan was in the habit of calling Esther’s apartment around eight thirty every morning to see if she was okay.
Then, a week after Ari’s Bar Mitzvah, Joan called and didn’t get a reply. Meyer asked her if she wanted him to go check on Esther.
“No. I’ll do it.”
“She mentioned she hasn’t been sleeping well. She’s probably just sleeping in a bit today.”
Joan forced a smile and said yes, then she rushed over to Esther’s apartment to see if she was okay.
Joan entered and called out for her grandmother as she wandered toward the bedroom. She found Esther still in bed with her eyes closed. Joan’s heart jumped into her throat as she rushed to the bedside and placed her hand on Esther’s shoulder. “Grandma?”
Esther’s eyes slowly opened and Joan exhaled the breath she was holding. “Grandma, I was worried when you didn’t answer the phone. How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling a little tired, dear, and weak, but I’m not in any pain.”
“Let me go call the doctor,” Joan offered as she turned to get the phone to call for help.
Esther reached out and placed her hand on Joan’s arm. “No, dear. Just sit with me a bit and hold my hand.”
“But, Grandma—”
“Sit, dear, please,”
Joan reluctantly smoothed the bedspread and took a spot on the bed beside her grandmother. As she looked into her grandmother’s eyes, she felt fear and worry.
“You and Meyer have been so good to this old lady. I couldn’t have asked for more. You know, near the end of his life, Manny’s father thanked Manny and me for being so good to him. He’d said God would see to it that one of my children would do the same for Manny and me. Sadly, my Manny didn’t live long enough to know it would be our granddaughter and her blessed husband, Meyer, who would allow me to make my senior years so fulfilling.” She smiled weakly and Joan did her best to smile back.
“I couldn’t have done half the things I accomplished in my old age, if I wasn’t living with you. I was joyfully included in every family event. I never had to miss anything, because somehow, there was always someone available to drive me anytime I needed a ride. You even let me help you in your own kitchen. I never felt like I was in the way. Joan, you always made me feel needed. You would always point out when a dish you served was my recipe. When you’re my age, you’ll know how important that is.”
“Grandma, it was nothing.”
“My beloved Joan, it was everything. Even when it came to money, you and Meyer took such good care of my investments I never lacked for money, and as a result of your hard work, I will be giving each of my great-grandchildren a college fund.”
“Grandma Esther, it’s been an honor and one of the greatest joys of Meyer’s and my life, to have you here with us.”
“Someday, Joan, God will do the same for you and Meyer.”
Joan’s eyes flooded with tears, but she blinked them back, trying to latch onto some of her grandmother’s calm demeanor.
After a brief pause Esther continued, “
I know how close you are with Samantha, but I also know in my heart Ari and Leah will take care of you one day. You’ll see.”
Esther closed her eyes and Joan began to fear the worst. She sat with Esther in silence, afraid to speak and find out her beloved grandmother was gone. Then all of a sudden, Esther’s eyes opened and she smiled a huge, peaceful smile. “Look, Joan—it’s Manny. I can see him. Look how he’s smiling at me. Oh Joan, his smile still makes me feel so good.”
Esther spoke again. “Oh, Manny, it’s so good to see you. So good. I’ve missed you, my love...yes, I’m coming.”
Joan held her hand and watched, as her grandmother’s breathing became shallower. She could see from the serene look on Esther’s face that with thoughts of her beloved Manny on her mind, she wasn’t afraid.
Esther closed her eyes, “Manny...”
Joan felt Grandma Esther’s hand release its grip on hers as she quietly slipped away.
Finally, the tears building in her eyes washed down Joan’s cheeks like a waterfall. She placed both her hands on her grandmother’s clasped hands. “Good-bye, Grandma Esther. Say hi to Grandpa Manny for me.”
Joan sat and gazed around the room that had been so filled with life and now suddenly felt so empty, her sadness tempered by the knowledge Esther had led such a fulfilling life. Still, Joan felt a pain in her heart that she hadn’t felt in many years—not since she’d lost her parents in that terrible accident. She sat there and cried, not wanting to let go of Esther’s hand, until she felt there were no more tears, and then she called Meyer to tell him Esther was gone.
Chapter Thirteen
~ Leah’s Bat Mitzvah Week
It was wonderful to see all of the Shapiro family again during Leah’s Bat Mitzvah week in Florida. I was also excited to see Michelle and her husband Morris Kaplan and their six-year-old identical twins, Ethan and David. Michelle still referred to me to as her “big brother” and, I was quite proud of that.
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