MY ACCOUNT

October 13

Hi mum,
 

It’s been almost two weeks now since Nora left – I thought I’d be wallowing, but I think I’ve actually been too distracted to wallow.

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I’d mentioned last time I wrote that people had been coming by to bring parting gifts for Nora, and it seems to have created a bit of a habit now! People are still coming by every day, bringing dishes, ingredients, recipes, even teas, thanks to Jerry’s flavored tea box! It was effectively cleared out by all the visitors we’ve had, so people started bringing unusual tea flavors they’d found, too.

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But let me back up a bit. The day before Nora left, we must have had at least a hundred people in and out of our house. Yes, even more than we had at the potluck! I don’t know how everyone decided to come that day – Jenna says she spoke to several people who all said it wasn’t planned or communicated – but somehow they all chose to come that day… and not one person came empty-handed. Some brought keepsakes for Nora, some brought practical gifts they thought she’d need while travelling or in Hawaii, but most brought food.

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Lou was the first one over - with coffee, because she finished all the regular tea in our house and doesn’t like the unusual flavor trend Jerry started. She still thinks we’re all nuts because we had cheese with lemon cake that day. She refused to even try it, insisting that at least one of us keep our wits.

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After Lou arrived with coffee, Ben dropped by with Nora’s favorite donuts, followed almost immediately after by Jenna and Jerry with fresh bakery bread and an assortment of jams. It was a surprisingly warm fall day, so we decided to sit outside, and thanks to all of us being reluctant to properly clean up, we still had the picnic benches and outdoor seating from the potluck. They came in handy that day! As more people came by, they heard us out back and saw others coming and going from the backyard door, so they just came straight through to the backyard to visit with Nora, and we essentially had an all-day picnic celebrating her.

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We were busy with visitors until nearly eleven at night, when Jenna had the good sense to shoo everyone home as Nora’s flight was at nine the next morning. She and Jerry stayed back at my request, though, so I could present them with the secret project I’d been working on.

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It was, of course, more of a gift that I had intended for Nora, but I also know that things wouldn’t have turned out the way they have without Jenna – and ultimately Jerry, too – so it only felt right to present it to all three of them.

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And so I sat them all down and handed them two identically wrapped gifts – one for Nora, and one for Jenna and Jerry. Nora and Jenna excitedly tore through the wrapping paper, and as soon as they could see what was underneath, Nora jumped up squealing and nearly knocked me off my feet in a hug, while we heard Jenna shriek “Whaaaat?!”

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And honestly, their reactions were more enjoyable than finishing the book I had just gifted them.

Even though we had unanimously agreed to set the deadline for the cookbook for the end of the year, I really wanted to send Nora off on her adventure with one of our own complete.

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We foolishly spent the next hour drinking more tea and poring through the Salt cookbook together as they examined each page, and then I got uncharacteristically blubbery. Because none of this would have happened without Nora.

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I wouldn’t be writing these letters, I wouldn’t have explored the recipe boxes, I wouldn’t have decided to write the cookbook. I wouldn’t have made that shortbread that Nora distributed, I wouldn’t have met Jenna, I wouldn’t have hosted the potluck, I wouldn’t have come out of my shell. And I wouldn’t have gotten to see my daughter surrounded with so much love. To see the beautiful possibility that comes from opening up.  

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As I wiped the saltwater from my eyes, I got the chance to thank the three of them for what they’d done for me. For wearing down my hard edges. For helping me come back to life. And I knew then that when the only person I’d had left would leave, I wouldn’t be alone. I wonder if Nora ever foresaw this outcome all those months ago.

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Even if she had, I’m sure even she couldn’t see what’s coming…

 

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Love,

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Beatrix