Panic started to set in today. There isn’t much packed, and I need to be on the road in less than 48 hours (I needed to be back in Cedar City by the following Wednesday night).
Mom wasn’t helping. I’d made a point of talking with her multiple times about whether she was ready for me to take some of her stuff for good. She said she was … but when push came to shove she had some issues. That’s her prerogative, so I worked around it. The big problem was that she kept taking things that were staged for packing (or even already packed), and picking them up to reminisce, and then leaving them in other places. I collected a lot of stuff twice. It was her stuff though, so I dealt with it, but the stress was starting to hit me today.
Ben had french toast for breakfast, courtesy of Grandma.
Ben was starting to be a problem too. He wanted to do touristy stuff (me too), but didn’t really get that there was a big job to do on a deadline. This was the only time on the trip when he got antsy.
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So, in mid-morning, the three of us drove to a U-Haul place. Aspects of U-Haul are great. But … most of the stores are franchises that are set up for walk-in business for people who don’t know what they want or need. That way they can sell you a lot of stuff. If you actually know what kind of truck you need, unless you’re lucky, you have to go where the truck is. Usually that is at a corporate office, and in my case, this was on Main St. in the center of Buffalo. So, we went, I paid for a truck, bought some more supplies, and Mom drove her car home while Ben and I piled into the truck for the first time, and drove it back to her place. One other note about U-Haul: they encourage you to buy a lot of stuff with a money-back guarantee, but the only place they honor that guarantee is at a corporate office. When we got back to Cedar City, I found out that a lot of my unused stuff would need to go to Las Vegas if I wanted my money back, so I ate almost $100.
Next, Sue and I concocted a hare-brained scheme for the afternoon that actually worked. On Monday, Sue and I had set up Wednesday afternoon to get together because she was off of work. But … antsy Ben wanted to go to the science museum. And Mom needed her car to go play bridge at a friend’s house.
On top of this, the appraiser needed me to bring in one item so that he could examine it. Except that I was getting it appraised to be insured, so technically it would not be insured by us when it was in his store. So he didn’t want me to drop it off, he wanted me to bring it in and then take it back. I eventually convinced him to hold it for a few hours.
So, here’s what Sue and I decided (kudos to Sue, because this was my crazy idea, she went along with it, and it worked). Sue came over to my Mom’s and picked her up, took her to her bridge game, and then drove to the science museum. Meanwhile, Ben and I took the item to the appraiser, and drove to the science museum. This all worked, and we met in the parking lot without any wait. The end of the plan was that I would pick up my mom later in the afternoon.
And the three of us did the Buffalo Museum of Science together. It’s not great, but it has some nice exhibits. Ben had a ball – especially in the room with bugs and other creepy-crawlies. Sue hadn’t been since there was a girl scout sleepover there with her kids years ago, and I don’t think I’d been there in 30-35 years. I thought the coolest thing was the sand mandala made by Tibetan Buddhist monks.
All three of us liked this articulating skeleton display. Ben thought Mary Jo would think it was cool too, so we took a video.
And, there was a gift shop for Ben.
At mid-afternoon, Sue had to go, and Ben and I went into high gear.
He wanted to go back to the gift shop at the naval servicemen’s park, and we did. In and out, and no one got hurt.
Now, Mary Jo had said to bring her back some kitschy Buffalo art – like one of those painted Buffalo sculptures around town. I’d actually inquired about those at the appraiser – they run $5-6K in the secondary market, and there weren’t any available at this time (not that I had that kind of money). But, for kitsch he’d recommended a place down on Allen St.
So, Ben and I went to Allentown to a coffee shop gallery that sold iron artwork from E B Iron Art (they have this place at the Galleria too). We looked around a bit, and couldn’t decide between two pieces meant to hang on a wall, that would be perfect for the block wall in our backyard back in Utah. I asked if they could cut us a deal if I paid cash for two of them, and they did (I’d been saving a wad of cash since I sold my old car the previous summer to spend on something frivolous). So, we loaded them into Mom’s car. Tight fit.
Ben was hungry, so we ran over to The Quaker Bonnet for a bit of lunch. While there, we also bought some cinnamon ice cream for Mom. She’d always raved about how much she loved it, but I don’t think she’d had any in over 40 years.
Back in the car, and out to get Mom on a deadline. I was dying of thirst from lunch, and Mom needed gas, so I stopped at the little station at the corner of Sheridan and Frankhauser. I’m pumping gas, and daydreaming, when this fat guy with a beer walks out of the bushes, pounds the end of his beer and drops it in the garbage, runs into the little shop, comes out with a slushy, and goes back into the bushes. I knew what was going on, and was laughing a ton of stress away: as we pulled out I saw him getting into his golf cart, which he’d parked off the fairway on the edge of Westwood Country Club, to go run for a cold one.
After all this, I got to where I had to pick up Mom on time, and she wasn’t ready yet. No biggy – I made small talk with some of her friends.
Now we drove to Mill Middle School. On Monday, Beth had made plans to take Ben out on a “date” if I would drop him off at her school after work. Mom waited in the car.
This is the crazy new arrangement they have in the front of the school. A long fence going from nowhere down by the loading dock, to nowhere down towards the end of A wing, with a driveway all the way around it. I'm not really sure what purpose this serves.
This was the school that I went to from 6th through 8th grades, and that Mary Jo did too a few years later. I’d only been in it once since 1978.
Ben and Beth outside her office at the beginning of A wing.
Outside of Beth's office.
Inside the office Beth shares. The school is a lot more crowded than it was when I went there - this used to be a storeroom. For all I know, it was empty then – I can’t ever remember seeing inside it. What was the school store across the hall is also an office now.
B wing
C wing
This school had a beautiful courtyard, which we pretty much were never allowed to go into when I was there. Beth says the kids can roam it freely now.
The cafeteria, and the hall down to the music rooms.
The length of A wing. I remember it being narrow, but not like this. I had lockers in those first two banks on the left my last two years here.
This is the room where Beth does most of her teaching - second from the end on the left of A wing.
The hallway going from A wing to B and C wings, with the library on the right. That bathroom on the left was one of the places where kids would sneak cigarettes. Not me.
E wing? What the heck is E wing? When I went there this was where the art and home economics classrooms were, with industrial arts and the boys locker room in the distance. The infamous Room 12 was the first door on the left.
The main office - this is the least changed thing
The one time I was back here after 8th grade, was one night as a substitute janitor.
Now, back in the car with Mom, and back to the appraiser, where we load the item back into the car, and then back to Mom’s house.
With the information in hand, I call my insurance agent in Utah, who says that I should get a contract that transfers ownership (in addition to insurance) – since I’d be driving one way across the country without any obvious personal stuff to make it seem like I was moving. So, I call Mom’s attorney and ask if they’ll do the forms. They agree to have it ready by the next day if I stop by right then and give them some particulars. So I run over there very briefly, while Mom has a drink. No problem, and I’m back to her house by about 6.
Then we went out to dinner at The Creekview, although it was too cold to sit outside. This is owned by a guy I was friends with in high school, and another friend is the chef. We had a nice dinner, and the chef – Mary Ann Giordano – came over to our table to catch up.
Then back to Mom’s. She had some of her ice cream for dessert (and did not share).
I started putting boxes in the truck right away, to get a sense of its size. I also put the art I’d bought in there securely.
Beth brought Ben back about 8, and stayed for a little while.
Then some of the Tufte clan came over to chat while I packed.
I think Sue took this picture of me and Mom then. Man I look like a blob.
I was still trying to get us to bed early, but it wasn’t working. I think we were out by 11:30 though.
Now that I’ve written this all out, I realize I sound like Henry Hill in Goodfellas on the day he gets busted.
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