He laughs loudly and with intent.
That’s Mr.Marlin.
He’s a patient who’s been living with his condition for a while now.He came to stay at the Center a year ago, and I’ve never seen anyone as grateful for it as he is.
Mr.Marlin embodies the kind of kindness I was thinking about earlier.He is light, and a life lesson.
“I’ll be your pit stop manager, changing your wheels in record time!Oh, we are totally signing up for that next year,” says Mr.Doryan, another patient.
They’re always together and understand each other’s jokes.Mr.Doryan is madly in love with Marina, the nurse who usually manages his medications, which reminds me of Ross and nurse Raquel, who ended up married.I went to Evermere during exam season to celebrate their love.I absolutely couldn’t miss it.
“So…” Cara opens her arms and smiles expectantly as I walk down the stairs outside the Elmwood Center.“What did she want to talk to you about?”
Philia and Cara had sent me messages saying they would wait for me to leave, as they were impatient to hear about my meeting with our boss.
“I’m going to speak at the New York Neuroscience Conference!I’ll fly there right after Christmas!”I tell them, elated.They pull me into a tight hug, just as overjoyed for me.
“I knew it!”Philia says.She had been speculating about it for days, and I had been trying not to hope too much.“I got the feeling that the studyStress and Cognitive Declinewould be chosen for the conference this year, and I told you she would tell you to go and present it!”
“Let’s go celebrate!”Cara claps her hands.
They’re my best friends.We celebrate each other’s wins like our own and bend to pick up each other’s downs, regardless of how that impacts us.
And tonight, we are celebrating thiswin.
Lately, I haven’t been spending much time with my family; I talk to them, but I haven’t seen them.I haven’t visited Evermere since I caught a train to go there seven months ago, right after another work conference.
I look at Philia and Cara.The sound of our boots on the cement echoes and blends with the sound of our laughter in the air.Our friendship’s dynamic reminds me of my family.They’re always there when I need them.They knock on my door when I don’t.And every little thing is a reason to celebrate.
Chapter33
Ella
December 26th, 2008
Friday
“There’s the New York Hard Rock Cafe, and there’s a great Italian restaurant close to your hotel.Oh!And youhaveto have dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, where the waiters suddenly jump onto the benches and start a musical in the middle of the place while you’re eating!It’s so good.There are so many amazing places to eat in New York.Oh, I wish I could have gone with you,” my sister says over the phone.
She kept making her infinite list of restaurants I should go to, either assuming I would be staying a whole month or eating ten meals a day.
“I’m sorry.You’re so indecisive, and I’m not helping,” she says, cutting herself off from yet another food recommendation, and it makes me laugh.
I’ve been here before.New York is not far from Evermere.But Mira’s been here way more times than I have, hence her million suggestions for my solo trip.
“Well…” I say, “it’s late, and my brain can’t think when it’s hungry.”
I’m just walking around with my phone pressed to my ear, completely distracted from the world, feeling like a true New Yorker.
“But thank you, Mira.”I smile on my end of the line, and I know she knows it, even though she can’t see me.
“I miss spending time with you,” she says.
“Me too!”
She’s still the one of the two of us who finds it easiest to show physical or verbal affection.But as the years go by, I’ve started learning from her, because little sisters have a lot to teach us too.“I promise I’ll visit you soon,” I say.
My sister is living in our hometown, where she fell madly in love with our next-door neighbor, Leonard.Who knew that love had been waiting for her all her life behind the next door?They now run their event planning and catering business.This successful business has never stopped her from travelling around the world, which she loves to do.Things are going well enough for them to manage a team of employees remotely while they’re away, or to plan the events they agree to take on flexibly.And that’s why she knows so much more about New York, where I’m feeling kind of lost right now.
