i had a two hour lay-over in Las Vegas
i had got kinda nauseous on the flight up from LA
lots of turbulence
air
packed flight
South West
Ugh.
i was reading “the Motion of Light in Water”
when an old woman came and sat beside me
i felt invaded
there were so many empty chairs…
ah… alright…
just don’t ask anything of me, alright Lady?
in the middle of the chapter i was reading
she said something
i responded
she said something
i responded
and
before i knew it
i was in a conversation
and had lost the page…
she was born in 1926 in Pennsylvania
and shortly after
taken to BudaPest
and raised there
what happened?
she was trapped there for a long time in her youth
forced to speak Russian
but she got back to america (1946)
and lived in New York
Long Island?
she taught herself to read and write english
because of the man she was in love with
using the dictionary to figure out the words
he was of german decent..
he was murdered… (eventually)
she had five children
four boys
and a girl.
one was a Fed Ex deliver… he was also murdered
one was a Cop– he will not take her into NYC
the daughter lived in Tucson
Margaret has terrible arthritis
so moved to AZ to live with her Daughter
who then moved to Silver City, NM
she lives with her there, now
in a trailer.
this will probably be the last flight back to Long Island
her back hurts her too much.
she would love to see BudaPest again
speak the language again…
but she doesn’t have enough money…
“after you get married and have kids
it’s hard to find the money”
she says
“travel while you can, see the world: before you get married”
she gives me a handful of candy
she gives me an orange.
i go back to reading
but notice she is bored sitting there by herself
jabbing her cane into the carpet
i tell her i wish i had a book to give her..
and then i suggest she get up and walk around
we watch eachother’s things while we go to the toilet…
when she’s back
i’m reading
occasionally staring out at the beautiful Nevada mountains
snow along the ridges…
i am occasionally caught up by talking with her again
being excited
and struck with the fact that i agree with most of what she says
happy to share with her what i feel and think
and find it funny that i relate so sanely to a 78 year old who was raised in Europe
– we understand eachother
… in this foreign land.
we introduce ourselves and shake hands as they call the time for boarding
she shakes her head and comments over and over
“why do they get up and stand in line? the plane isn’t going to leave with out them… they’re not getting their any quicker…”
like i would shout at the students corralling themselves before class started
ten minutes
counting down
waiting for the bell
i would stand on the bench
and scream nearly the same thing at them
they would stare at me
then look at the clock
shift their books and bags
and talk to their friends
when the line is moving
she leaves me
though i see her when i finally board myself
sitting near the front
in an aisle seat
(little charmer, i’m sure she always gets what she wants)
i sit in the back by the window
and after we’re at 10,000 feet
and i’ve written for a while
i get a bit lost looking out the window
the sun is beaming down through the clouds like angels as we descend into Tucson…