Chapter 22
Dear Teresa McNair,
Thank you so much for sending me Flo’s letter.
I was so very sorry to hear that she had died, even though she had prepared me for it when we last spoke a few months ago.
At that time, she had not yet been diagnosed, but she had not been feeling well.
She lived a good long life, and I suppose that’s some compensation for those of us who loved her.
I am deeply appreciative of Flo leaving her house and its contents to me. It came as a complete surprise, though I know Flo and Terrence had no relatives or children, and that in some respects Flo thought of me as her daughter.
Flo’s house is very important to me, but I cannot manage things in person—my husband and I are in the process of buying a new house here in California.
There is a realtor there named Sandy Bellman (she owns the self-named agency) whom I have contacted, however, and she assures me that all the necessary paperwork for selling Flo’s house can be done electronically. Sandy will also manage an estate sale.
In her letter, Flo told me about the significance of some things that are in her house.
It was beautiful to read, and I am returning the letter to you so that you can read it, too.
There are a few things I will ask Sandy to send me: Flo’s silver spoons, her Mrs. Hen mug, her old teddy bear, her pearls, her embroidered dishtowels, and the little white box wrapped in red ribbon that has an elastic band inside—she kept it in her kitchen drawer.
If you think there is something you (or anyone you know Flo liked) might want, please contact Sandy and ask her to let you into the house before the estate sale—I believe you must have been a good friend, and that Flo would want you to have anything you like.
There is a good woolen blanket that she mentions. I wonder if a shelter could use it?
I wish I’d have been able to offer a final thanks to Flo for what she gave to me as a child growing up next door to her, and as a friend to me for all my life. She was ever a kind and generous person—and a very wise one. I wish she could know how much she helped me by writing me this letter.
Thank you, Teresa.
Warmly,
Ruth Eimers