End of Phase 3

Monday, September 19, 1977
Psalm 113

Got up medium. Dressed. Waited around. We each had a 1/2 cup coffee. Pops went out I think. Anyhow went to A&P, all 3 of us (mom-me, T.) Pops stayed home and packed. Came back. Ate. watched T.V. Rested. Pops went to McDonald's to eat (he didn't give us any). Went to bed.
Thank you, Mr. O.

Hmm. The McDonald's thing must have annoyed me since I wrote about it. I wonder how come Poppy didn't give us any.


Tuesday, September 20, 1977
Psalm 114

Got up medium. Dressed. We went to the bank to cash T.'s bond. Had some problems and had to contact Papa T. Got T's bond cashed. Went to Sears. Got winter coats for me & T. Came back. Ate. Rested. Papa T. came. It was alright. I felt nervous. Our Grandmother is real wicked. He left. Going to bed. Thank you, Mr. O.

If I remember correctly, the coats were red. Winter. We had no clue what we were in for, ha ha! And yes... our Grandmother had issues. We didn't see her for some quite some time after this....


Wednesday, September 21, 1977
Psalm 115

Got up medium. Dressed. Packed. Went to A&P and Sears. Came back. A nice, tall, brown bald-headed, basketball playing Taxi Cab driver drove us pass the lake and the Buckingham Fountain and to the train station. Played pinball, ate popcorn. Boarded the train at 2:30p.m. Rested. * Ate dinner. Went to sleep. Thank you, Mr. O, Thank you. *Saw man playing a banjo on the train in the club car. We ate:

• Breakfast: Popcorn, peanuts, plums
• Snack: cracker jacks, peanuts
• Dinner: Corn chips, chicken spread, lettuce, tomato, prunes, dried fruit, peaches, 1 banana, peanuts.

I must have been depressed those two weeks in the Zanzibar motel. That was the most I'd written in weeks--I even included the food. We left Chicago without saying goodbye to anyone. And the reason the cab driver earned such a detailed description was that I remember him realizing we hadn't seen anything of Chicago the whole time we were there. So he made a point of pointing out the fountain.

Grandma was a bitch, for sure.

Thursday, September 22, 1977
Psalm 116

Got up medium. Dressed. Had a snack. Met a girl from Iran who spoke very little English. She was nice. She said that she was a Muslim. Even though we didn't get Aunt Sinah on the phone, she was there to meet the train. She's not very pretty, but dresses well, is very smart, doesn't smoke, has cancer of the throat, but has 3 years to live (Dr. says) and has a fab. car. Went shopping. Came back. Ate. Went to bed.

We ate:

• Breakfast: Corn chips
• Dinner: Rice, lettuce+celery+olive oil salad, beef burgers, relish, mustard.
• Dessert: dates, peanuts

"New York, New York. Jus' like I pictured it!"
We had no frame of reference though. Where Chicago was cold and spread out, New York was heated and vertical.

And Aunt Sinah was cool. She fought my father tooth and nail about everything. She walked around my mother... we found out later she'd been in correspondence with Grandma. But she loved us. It wasn't that she was warm and mushy, but there was something about her that I "got"... and she "got" me, too. She lived quite a few years longer than the docs gave her.

She was a scientist. She had worked for the Atomic Energy Commission, analyzing the effects of radiation on people. She had also worked on a vaccine.... smallpox or measles or something (I have to look it up) and published papers on it, but got no respect whatsoever. Matter of fact, she had been bounced out and forced into early retirement right around the time we got to New York, about which she was exceedingly bitter.

And that car. It as a 1965 limited edition Mercedes Benz convertible coupe. Basically a two-seater, with a gold body and a black rag top. She often said that when we she was too feeble to drive, she'd stop living. And that's pretty much what happened.

Friday, September 23, 1977
Psalm 117

Got up medium. Dressed. We're in the Gramercy Park Hotel. We ladies share a big bed, Pops has his own. We have a colour T.V., a sofa, 2 arm chairs, 1 coffee table, lamps all over the place, air conditioner, radiator, desks, chests of drawers, chairs. Aunt Sinah came for us. Drove around. Shopped. Aunt Sinah gave us books. I got "Sea Star". Came back. Ate. Put on p.j's. Went to bed. Thank you, Mr. O, Thank you.

We ate:

• Breakfast: Prunes, peanuts
• Dinner: Spaghetti + egg+beef salami (fried), carbonara, lettuce and olive oil + celery
• Dessert: dates, peanuts

See, this is why I said Aunt Sinah "got me." She found out quickly the things we liked... she knew I loved horses, so she got me that book (I still have it). The Professor loved dogs... she got her a sticker/coloring book about dog breeds. When she found out I liked to draw, she brought me a drawing pad and water color pencils. A hell of a lot more time than Grandma took.

Saturday, September 24, 1977
Psalm 117

Got up late. Dressed. Talked. Had Sabbath School. Watched T.V. Ate lunch. Rested, fussed. Read "Sea Star". Watched a rodeo. Aunt Sinah called. It's 6:15pm. Going to put on p.j.'s. watch T.V. eat, and go to bed. Thank you, Mr. O, Thank you.

We ate:

• Dinner: Beans+sardines+tomato+lettuce+olive oil, Triscuits, chicken spread, mustard, peanuts, figs, corn chips.

So now, were in New York. I guess that's the end of the Jamaica Story (Phase 3--Phase 1 being New York, Phase 2 being Paris), but the very beginning of the New York story. I pause here, people, because from this point forward, my whole perspective begins to change. The things I write about or make note of are WAY different than the things I made note of in Jamaica.

And one of these days I've got back track to explain how we got to Jamaica in the first place... and maybe at some point I'll post the first half of 1977. Or maybe y'all will just have to wait for the book...

Hey, P.S. since I added a link to the Gramercy Park Hotel. When we were there, it wasn't a "boutique" hotel, but it was still quite a few cuts above the Zanzibar Motel.