We heard her voice first in the front hall - that lilting theater trained voice with the cultivated Edinburgh accent - followed by the fragrance of Yardleys English Lavender as she swept into the room hugging each one of us in turn, "Martha, Nannie dear, Irving and Helen - dear little Helen!" Then, peering into the pram, "And this is Donald James!" She reached in to pick him up but mother restrained her, saying "He's just been fed!" Three month old Donald just smiled.
I looked at my cousin Anne Ferguson - about twenty at the time. She looked sixteen. A quiet, plain-faced girl with a winning, warm smile - I loved her on sight! Campbell was so excited that he got up from his chair, putting out his arms to hug his sister, not sure of her location in the room as she was going from one to another of us, finally hugging him...
"Cambie, so wonderful to see you!"
Florence was putting the finishing touches to dinner in the kitchen. The dining room was set with our best linen and silver. Martha and I had helped earlier, making the waldorf salad to accompany Florence's wonderful chicken pie - the two chicken version that we all loved! No one made a more delicious chicken pie! Irv and Uncle Eugene had made peach ice cream in the ice gream freezer that had to be filled with chopped ice and hand-cranked by them both taking turns turning the handle!
A wonderful dinner indeed!
And a great reunion filled with stories and reminiscence. After dinner mother excused herself to take Donald up to the nursery where she stayed! We four children took Auntie Nan and Ann on a tour of the house from top to bottom, and they were ecstatic in their approval. Aunt Nan stopped in the nursery to say goodnight to mother. She made a date with her for the following day to take her to the lovely tea room at the Edgewater Beach Hotel where she was staying. They served a genuine English/Scottish Tea in the Tea Room accompanied by a Violin-Cello-Piano ensemble that played current romantic melodies while an occasional couple got up and danced on the small dance floor. The Tea Dance was a daily tradition at the Edgewater Beach in the 20's and early 30's.
Uncle Eugene offered to take Ann, Martha and me to the opening matinee of Cleopatra with Claudette Colbert at the Chicago Theater while mother and Auntie Nan were at tea, and Ann was thrilled as this was her first trip to Chicago. So the following day we did as planned and it was a happy day!
Father could not join any of us as he was closing on a house that he had just completed for a Chicago judge - his last house that he built - and he and Ed Gregor were committed to that event. But driving home after leaving Ann and Auntie Nan at their hotel, mother was very quiet and would not talk to us. When we arrived home, Florence was in the living room gently rocking Donald who was sound asleep. Irv, Helen, and father were just finishing supper and Uncle Gene, Martha, and I joined them. Mother picked up Donald from the pram and went up to the nursery without a word to anyone...
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