New Year’s Day—1983
Kenneth Russell celebrated the New Year with his mother, sitting with her and watching television as the world welcomed in the third year of a new decade. It had been ten years since he graduated from college, and it had taken Justine even longer to finally earn her degree. She’d just begun her junior year when she got up one morning complaining of chest pains. At first, she’d attributed it to indigestion, but when he finally was able to convince her to go to the emergency room, she was immediately taken into surgery.
He’d waited for hours, and when he finally met with the surgeon, he was told that his mother’s aorta had ruptured and that she would have to remain in the hospital up to ten days, and it would take another four to six weeks at home for her to fully recover.
She dropped out of college and focused on regaining her health and strength. Once she was medically cleared, she returned to work on a part-time basis. However, it had taken her longer to re-enroll for classes. She’d celebrated her fiftiethbirthday in March, and two months later, she proudly walked across the stage to receive her degree.
Justine patted Kenny’s hand. “I’ve decided not to teach.”
Easing back, he stared at her. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not kidding. At my age, I realize I don’t have the patience to deal with a lot of little kids. The exception would be my grandchildren, because if they got on my nerves, I could always send them back to their parents. Earning a college degree was on my wish list, and now that I have it, I can cross it off.”
Kenny wondered if his mother was still mourning the loss of her friend. Frank D’Allesandro’s cancer had returned six months ago, and it had been so aggressive that he died three weeks later. Justine had refused to attend the funeral and the reading of his will, when he bequeathed her enough money for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. Within days of receiving the money, she transferred most of it to Kenny’s bank account, because she didn’t want to face the risk of having to move because her assets exceeded the income threshold for living in public housing. She’d gotten used to the neighborhood within walking distance to the Lincoln Center. Frank had also left Kenny enough for him to move out of his Greenwich Village studio rental to purchase a two-bedroom co-op in an East Harlem high-rise with views of the East River and bridges spanning the boroughs of New York City.
“What other surprises are you hiding from me?”
“I’m going to quit my job in June.”
“And do what, Mom?”
“Travel.”
“Travel where?”
“I’m going to take an around-the-world cruise. There was a time when Francis asked me what would I do if I had enough money to do whatever I wanted. I told him I wanted to travel and see the world.”
“And he left you a shitload of money to do that.”
“More than I would ever need living here. That’s why I gave you most of it to use when you finally decide to settle down and start a family.”
“I’m not certain when that’s going to happen,” Kenny said.
“I don’t want you to call me a meddling old woman, but aren’t you seeing someone?”
“If I was, then I wouldn’t be spending New Year’s Eve with my mother.”
“I’m not that gullible, Kenneth. I know you’re seeing women, so don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes. And I’m not going to have a meltdown if I bring in the new year alone.”
“Do you realize this is the first year you won’t celebrate it with Uncle Dee since you two got back together?”
Justine wanted to tell her son that she didn’t like talking about her friend, because she truly missed him. And he’d been a true friend to the end. When she was discharged from the hospital, he’d paid for a nurse to take care of her until she regained most of her strength. Then, he chartered a yacht to sail down to St. Thomas, where they spent more than a week in the sun before returning to New York. She didn’t know if her life would’ve been any different if she’d married or lived with Francis. She did know that he was a faithful and loyal friend to the end.
“Yes.” Even when there were long stretches of time when they didn’t see each other, he would come over and celebrate the new year with her.
“I still think you should’ve married him.”
She gave Kenny a prolonged stare. A couple of years ago, he’d traded his glasses for contact lenses. Justine liked seeing him with glasses, because they made him appear bookish. “You’re beginning to sound like a scratched record that gotstuck in a groove. How many times are you going to repeat yourself?”
“As many times as it takes for you to admit that you should have married him.”
“Francis didn’t want to get married.”
“That’s not what he told me.”
“Now, you’re calling a dead man a liar?”
“No, Mom. He told me he’d changed his mind and was getting ready to propose to you, but he got sick and that he didn’t want to be a burden to you.”
