Continued, The Correspondent
Dear Ms. Van Antwerp,
Thank you for the cherry streusel cake you had delivered from the German bakery in Baltimore.
There was no need for you to go to the trouble, you have already thanked me multiple times, though it meant a great deal to me that you remembered that small thing I told you about my mother.
I haven’t thought in such detail about my mother in years, and I didn’t know there was a German bakery until the cake showed up at my door.
I was surprised to find it looking identical to my mother’s, and tasting almost as good.
I looked the bakery up in the phone book.
The woman who answered, her grandmother started the shop when she came to Baltimore from Germany.
She said her family is from the center of the country, whereas my family is from Küssaberg, just there at the very bottom, almost in Switzerland, but I told her the cakes were much the same, hers only a bit sweeter.
She was glad to hear from me and we talked for a good while.
She has never visited Germany. I think I will drive up to Baltimore and go to the shop so we can share a coffee and she can give me samples of other cakes and pastries she is trying to keep in the German style.
She is a gentle sort of girl. That’s the way Katharina, my wife, was.
Quiet, though with Katharina there was always a bit of mischief.
You’d see this little edge of a smile on her, made her look like she was so young, and even when she was completely vacant with dementia it was like that. Like the joke was on me.
It was also very nice to talk to you when we spent the morning together, though of course it was not good for you.
Just as you seem determined to keep thanking me, I am determined to keep apologizing for startling you and setting things in motion.
How are you getting along with the cast?
I am relieved you don’t have to have surgery.
When I had surgery on my shoulder two years ago it was difficult for months in ways I didn’t consider going into it, and I agree with something you said, that you dread dragging the children into your life when theirs seem busy enough already.
You mentioned three children, but I think I’ve only met the two—Bruce and Fiona.
If you’re not busy tonight, do you want to come play gin rummy?
We can eat this cake. I also have a bottle of scotch, if you like.
I rarely have company, but I’ve just dusted and mopped this morning.
No need to let me know, just pop over around seven if you’re free.
If not, I’ll drop a few slices of cake to you in the morning after my walk by the river.
This is the longest thank-you note I have ever penned. By the way, if I go to the German bakery, would you like to come? I estimate a thirty minute drive. We can talk about it if you come by tonight.
Your neighbor,
Theodore