|
12/12/1999 Sunday Reading: Memoirs of a Geisha, which I am greatly enjoying. Also, Wuthering Heights and poetry by Jane Kenyon and Denise Levertov. Grateful for: The much-needed weekend away, and the happy smiles on my boys' faces when I returned. |
Rest and RelaxationWell, I'm back after our Girls' Weekend o'Fun with my mother, sisters, and nieces. I think it did me good to lay aside my roles of wife and mother for a few days and be simply a daughter, a sister, an aunt. It was a welcome respite in the midst of this busy Christmas season. Tab and the twins dropped me off at the Philadelphia Airport on Friday morning. For the past week, whenever my Portland trip was mentioned, Stephen would wail, "I don't want you to go, Mama!" But both Stephen and Matthew handled my departure with remarkable equanimity. It was wonderful to see my family again. Although I just saw my Mom when she and Jake went to the shore with us in October, I hadn't seen my sisters or their daughters since August. We stayed in a hotel in South Portland, a parking lot away from the Maine Mall, much to the delight of the hardcore shoppers of our party. Though we split into smaller groups during the days for shopping or sightseeing depending on our inclinations, the nights found the nine of us hanging out in one of our two hotel rooms, which gave the weekend the tenor of an endless slumber party. At one point I looked around at the people in the room, from my eight-year-old niece up to my mother and thought, "I'm related to every one of these women." I'm not sure why, but the realization both awed and comforted me.
After our tour, we walked down to the Old Port, Portland's shopping area and tourist mecca. Holiday festivities in the Old Port included a character dressed as Father Christmas who roamed picturesquely through the streets and Victorian-garbed carolers who sang on the corners. Most of the buildings in the Old Port date from the late 1860s and early 1870s due to a devastating fire in 1866, so even the architecture fit into the Victorian theme of the weekend. Walking around Portland, I remembered why I loved living there. It is a wonderful city: small enough that you can walk practically everywhere yet large enough for city amenities such as good restaurants, a thriving art community, symphony orchestra, and theater groups. I have a lot of happy memories of my years in Portland. I'd probably still be there if I hadn't met Tab. I spoke to Tab and the boys several times while I was away. They were taking advantage of my absence by setting up the Hotwheels track in the living room, something I don't allow when I'm home. . Whenever I called, I could hear the hum of the accelerators and shouts of glee. They sounded like they were having a blast. Although the weekend in Portland was lovely, I was happy to get off the plane in Philly on Sunday night and see three little blond heads at the gate waiting for me. I was starting to feel homesick on Sunday, perhaps because I was the only daughter who did not have one of my own children with me. Also I was reminded again how hard it is to feel a part of the group when I live so far away. There is a closeness that comes from day-to-day intimacy that distance precludes.
|
Aside from seeing my family, my favorite part of the trip was the time we spent in Portland, the city where I lived after college. And I finally got to see the 
The Victoria Mansion was quite impressive; I especially liked the numerous trump l'oeil paintings on the walls and ceilings. When it was built by a New Orleans hotelier in 1847, the mansion was the most modern house in Maine, with indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, gas lighting, and central heating. The house was decorated for Christmas, which made it even more lovely.