Goodbye Ethel
Ethyl
left us today. This, after 34 years of living at our house where we provided
for her every need in return for her faithful service. Today she left our front
door in the company of a lady-friend of Marjorie’s in spite of our history of
providing her shelter and care. Marjorie and I expect that we will never see
her again unless the lady friend sends us a picture of Ethel in her new home. Perhaps
this blog will be a fitting epithet for Ethel and her faithful service.
I
should give you some more detail about Ethel before you get the wrong
impression. I will enclose a picture of her below. I took the photo this
morning to help you and the two of us remember her. First of all, you should
know that Ethel was a careful dresser. The fact that she left our house this
afternoon at two PM wearing rather skimpy clothes was not her fault. Marjorie
was in charge of her attire, and she admitted that she hadn’t furnished the
poor creature any new clothes in a long while. Close inspection revealed that,
in fact, the bottom part of Ethel’s attire was a long apron that was a perfect
match for the clothing beneath it.
Ethel
was something of a clothes horse, wearing whatever Marjorie provided. The
aforementioned skirt, shirt and apron has been her everyday clothing for the
past several years while she greeted visitors as they ascended our stairway to
the second floor. This site was Ethel’s station every day. Our second floor
consists of three bedrooms and one bathroom. Especially telling is that one of
the bedrooms doubles as a sewing room for Marjorie. Within that room is a host
of sewing machines, tables, and a large closet where rests an untold number and
stacks of fabrics and notions for the making of quilts. The room is more of a
sewing room than a bedroom although a large log bed stands within, mostly used
for organizing quilt fabrics.
That
sewing room is on the extreme righthand end of the house, past a second bedroom
and past the bathroom which sees use only by visitors who spend a night or two
with us. At the other end of the house is another bedroom with two beds, including
a closet that stores quilts along with a hall tree that our visitors use. Ethel
stood just outside that bedroom, greeting every visitor whose ultimate aim was
to visit the bathroom or one of the bedrooms. Ethel was always respectfully
quiet as she performed her service for Marjorie and or visitors, presumably
proudly showing her clothing.
Ethel awaiting a ride to her new home
