One day when I got back, Lynda wasn’t waiting for me to welcome home. I shouted where are you?
She said just go and get changed, I am making tea, and I got to talk to you.
When I got changed and got in the kitchen, she had tea ready and with a big smile on her face.
I said what’s up?
She said Adam and Jenifer are coming.
I said when?
On Thursday night, she said. But they are not staying with us and they don’t want us to go to the airport, either.
Why not?
Because they are staying in Ballagio and Ballagio’s lumazine is picking them up.
I said, why?
She said because Adam is getting a free suite to stay in Ballagio.
I said that’s indeed a better place to stay.
She said Adam said that last time when they stayed there, he gambled and therefore this time they offered them a free suite. However, my question is – don’t the customers have to lose enough to be eligible for a free stay. She continued – Is he gambling away our money whenever they come to stay in Vegas?
I said you are right. Typically, people will have to play more frequently to qualify for a free suite but not necessarily to loose significantly. Furthermore, I continued, Adam is smart enough to gamble wisely. He must have won enough the last time they stayed there and now they want him to lose by staying free in their hotel. It’s nothing but pure marketing tricks. Furthermore, Adam not going to loose his shirt.
She said I hope so. By the way she said he is taking us to an expensive Steak House on Saturday.
I said I look forward to it.
She said another thing. I told Adam that I am going to take Jenifer to Brilliant Bridal on Saturday to get her a wedding dress.
I asked if he agreed with her suggestion?
She said yes, he did.
I said I am not trying to confuse the issue, but one way you never stopped complaining that Jenifer’s parents are not spending money on the wedding and now you’re gong to spend money on her dress. I thought the bride’s family is responsible for buying the wedding dress and associated accessories.
She said now you’re being silly. You know that they don’t do diddly.
I said if it makes you happy, go for it.
Another thing that I wanted to mention to you that please don’t be too hard on Adam. We are still taking some money every month from the business to subsidize our expenses.
She said I thought we have our investment.
I said indeed we have our investment, but we haven’t touched it yet and to be totally honest with you one of these days Adam may call just to let us know that there will not be any monthly money coming from Ottawa.
She said but you know that the business is growing and consequently profits must be growing, too.
I said that’s true, but Adam will have his mind made up and I wouldn’t argue. Perhaps that will be the time to dip into our investment unless I find a way of making more money than just teaching.
She said you already have done more than enough. You’re entitled to enjoy your so-called retirement. She continued – Don’t forget tonight is the movie night at the Clubhouse.
I said I like going there. Cooking hamburgers for the folks and paying only one dollar for a burger and drink, not to mention a free movie watching.
We went to the clubhouse and enjoyed our evening with the folks, not to mention watching a western movie on TV.
Saturday after lunch we went to Ballagio to meet Adam and Jenifer. While Lynda and Jenifer were playing machines, Adam brought me up to date with the business. They had won a couple of contracts and Adam was in the process of writing a relatively big proposal. He thought the chances of winning that contract were 50/50.
I asked Adam if they had decided the wedding date.
Adam told me that they are in the process of finding a suitable date to book at the National Arts Centre (NAC) and as soon as they get a date confirmed he will call his mom, and he asked me not to share this conversation with her.
I said I am proud of you, son. The NAC was indeed a prestigious place for having wedding and you both deserve it.
Adam asked if am I enjoying teaching?
I said, yes I do and recently got one more class to teach at the University of Phoenix at their local campus here in Vegas.
Adam and I stopped talking as soon as Lynda and Jenifer joined us after losing a few dollars and we decided to head out for shopping on Sahara Avenue.
While Lynda and Jenifer were shopping at Brilliant Bridal for a wedding dress, I took Adam to get a couple of business suits for him.
Once we were done with the shopping and Jenifer was totally excited with the wedding dress that Lynda had bought for her, they took us to a very nice and expensive steak house on the strip.
We had wonderful evening and when we dropped them off at Ballagio, we were tired and realizing the fact that we would not be able to see them before they go back, we hugged them and said our goodbyes.
Most of the things that we were involved with on a daily or weekly basis became a kind of norm for us. There were 365 houses located on the gated community we called home but hardly 25 or 30 folks used to come to the Club House for Sunday Breakfasts but since Lynda took over, there were more than 50 folks attending breakfasts regularly and spending more time at the Club House during the week days.
The Management of the Park had increased the monthly breakfast allowances which made Lynda and Libby happy. They were both a team and they were delighted to welcome everybody, and they were also trying very hard to come up something different to make every Sunday more interesting.
I remember asking Lynda if she likes working with Libby. She said Libby is little bossy but it’s not intentional. That’s her Jewish style which Lynda was used to, and she enjoyed working with Libby.
As far as I was concerned, in addition to teaching two classes at UNLV, one at the University of Phoenix, and two at the Community Colleges, I started spending time on the weekend to help Hank and Betty with their emailing difficulties. They were wonderful people; they were relatively older than us and they were living there forever. They used to serve me tea and cookies every time I went there to help them out.
It was becoming quite normal for us to go out with Earnie and Betty every week and Earnie also used to attend Data Processing Association meetings with me. We really enjoyed their company.
One day I came back from teaching, Lynda walked in when I was getting changed in our bedroom and said guess what?
I said can I get changed before start playing that game with you, again?
She said you’re no fun.
I said alright, I think you heard from your son.
She said closed, but it was an order.
I said come on, babe, you always make a mountain out of a molehill.
She said you always side your son.
I said please tell me what’s bothering you
She said she got an order from Ottawa that we needed to be in Ottawa by the end of the month for two weeks.
I said what’s cooking?
She said your son is getting married.
I said a wonderful news, isn’t? You already bought the wedding dress for Jenifer.
She said don’t get me wrong I am delighted for them to get married but the way things are happening, I don’t like it. She said why didn’t they wait until you are done with your teaching.
I said maybe it wasn’t easy for them to get a date at NAC.
She said how did you know that the wedding is at the NAC. Obviously, Adam must have spoken to you about it when they were here and you decided not to share that conversation with me. What else did he tell you? Did he tell you not to share the information with me?
I said yes Adam had mentioned about NAC but nothing else. I continued without allowing her to jump and say something nasty. I said to be totally honest with you. We are the main reasons for the way things are going in Ottawa. We left them hanging.
She said they got everything we ever had and how many parents do that.
I continued – they never asked for that. We decided to have a different life and decided to give them a break, and it appeared to be working alright except with your reservations.
She said in any case, I told Adam that you may not be able to stay there for a couple of weeks because of the commitment that you made for your classes but I was prepared to stay there for a couple of weeks.
I said let me take you out tonight to celebrate the wonderful news. However, I am still not sure when we are supposed to go to Ottawa.
She said when the wedding is scheduled.
I said unfortunately, I don’t have too many choices. I think I can do that but what would they would have for you to do for two weeks beside you spending time with your sorority sisters?
She said – “NOTHING”. She said I asked him again and he said everything is planned. He also said that they already sent invitations to everybody we had on our list. But he didn’t like to tell me how many people are coming. He also asked me to go out and buy a nice dress for myself.
I said everything appeared to be nice and why are you not enjoying the moment?
She said, he is bossy. I don’t want him to tell me what to do. I was going to buy a nice dress anyway, not necessarily in Ottawa but here.
