Anyway, if you’re not mad at me, too, for chasing your brother off to Alaska two months before the wedding, please tell me if you know how he’s doing. I dropped him off at the airport, and he didn’t even want us to come in and wait with him. Just said he’d see me at the wedding. No kiss, nothing. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.
Your sister,
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Jordan and Becky
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
My brother
* * *
Hi Dulcie,
Why is it that both of you seem to have appointed me as your personal marriage counselor? What do I know? I’m just his kid sister! :)
But, to answer your question, he did call the other evening, and it sounds like he arrived okay and is getting settled. Miserable, but settled. Also sounds to me like he’s starting to cool down and realize he made a very stupid decision! And now you’re both stuck with it.
Trust me, this has all been very educational for Jordan and me. We are taking pages and pages of notes—we call it our “Let’s Learn from Tom and Dulcie’s Screwups Notebook.” So, thanks to you, we should have an awesome marriage! :)
Okay, I’ll be nice now. You wanted my advice on Tom? You want to know why he got so upset about whatever was in that e-mail? Think about it, Dulcie. He grew up with an alcoholic dad that was always telling him how useless he was, how he couldn’t do anything right. A dad that up and split when Tom was 13 and I was 11. We didn’t hear from him again—got an obituary notice about ten years ago that he died of liver sclerosis. If you had that sort of experience as a kid, how sensitive would you be about someone you love saying you were in the way and didn’t know how to do anything right? He’s gotten to the point where the only thing he is confident in is his ability to program computers. Do you blame him for running away from the rest of it?
That’s about the best I got for you. Sorry it isn’t more.
Hugs,
Becky
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Jordan and Becky
Subject:
Re: My brother
* * *
Oh, Becky! He never told me any of that. I never, ever would have joked about him if I’d known. All he would say about his dad was that he drank a lot and divorced your mom and died a while ago. I didn’t know. Honest…I just didn’t know.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Jordan and Becky
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: My brother
* * *
Yeah, well, it’s not exactly the sort of thing we like to put in our family Christmas letter or anything….
Give him another week or so. I bet he’ll come around enough so you can talk to him.
Becky
* * *
From:
J. Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Flowers
* * *
Darling,
You’re so good with design. Look at the attached photos for me and tell me which color of amaryllis would look better in my bouquet. Do you like the fuchsia-striped ones, or the white ones with the red star in the center? Oh, maybe I should go multicolored and have one of all of them!
By the way, just for the record, I am not in favor of Tom going off to Alaska for a whole year. What was he thinking, leaving his family like that? It’s bad enough for him to have been home only on weekends, but this is shameful! I’m sorry, dear. I thought I raised him better than that. You poor thing. I’m sure the salary is very attractive, but really, there’s more to life than making money. I’ll tell him so, too, at the wedding.
Well, I’m off to work. Have a great day, honey!
Jeanine
* * *
From:
Thomas Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Contact info
* * *
Dulcie,
Did you get the voice mail I left last week with my new office and hotel contact info? I didn’t get a reply, so I wanted to make sure you found it.
Anchorage is very pretty. A little smaller than Omaha. Chilly, too. Your mother wouldn’t have to worry about her flowers trying to come up early here. Everyone seems nice so far.
Let me know if you got that voice mail, or if I need to e-mail you my info again.
Thanks,
Tom
* * *
From:
J. Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Music
* * *
Dulcie dear,
Do you think it would be better to have the whole band or just Shoji play “Ride of the Valkyries” for Morris’s processional? Shoji offered, but I have never heard a violin version before. Would it sound weird, do you think?
Jeanine
* * *
From:
Zelia Muzuwa
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Adoption reference
* * *
Dulcie,
Would you be willing to write a reference for us for the adoption? I know we’ve never met in person, but you know me probably better than anyone else, except Tristan. Our case worker said it would be okay. If you’d like to do this, let me know and I’ll send you the information sheet on what you have to include in the letter.
I’m really jazzed—tomorrow is our home visit! But I’m nervous, too. I’ve cleaned the entire house, top to bottom. Tristan probably would have all sorts of fun teasing me about how suddenly obsessive I’ve become about picking up. But he’s still trying to recover from tax day.
I hope you’re doing okay. You’ve been a bit quiet this week.
Hugs,
Z
* * *
From:
Brenna L.
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Question about your parents
* * *
Hi Dulcie!
I have sort of an awkward question to ask you about when you were adopted. Did your parents ever feel sad or anything because they missed out on being pregnant with you? I guess it was probably different for them since they’d had children already….
See, Darren told me last night that he doesn’t mind the idea of adoption so much. Ever since Madeline made that comment to him about all of us being adopted by God, he’s decided adoption is pretty cool. But he’s feeling really sad about not being able to go through a pregnancy with me. He said he keeps looking at all my baby pictures from Madeline, and when I was pregnant with her, and the ultrasound picture and all that. And he told me he really wants to do all that stuff with me, since I had to go through it alone the last time. (Well, my mom was with me, but it’s not the same as having a husband.) He got really sad, and even looked like he was going to cry—which he never does.
So that’s why I was asking. I hope it doesn’t offend you or bother you at all. I’m not trying to be nosey. I just wondered if that feeling of disappointment ever goes away.
Thanks for being such a good friend.
Brenna
* * *
From:
J. Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Wedd
ing Favors!
* * *
I almost forgot! What do you think we should do about wedding favors? I haven’t ordered any yet, and if I don’t this week, I’m afraid they might not arrive in time. I was thinking it would be nice to make them a Branson souvenir/Wedding favor combination. I saw the cutest miniature cedar rolling pins in a gift store on the strip the other day—they had “Ozark Husband Tamer” carved on them. I think there’d be enough room on the opposite side to put our name and wedding date. That would be for the ladies. The men could have corncob bubble pipes with our names and date on it. Wouldn’t that be just so cute?
Gotta run! TTFN!
Jeanine
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
“Green Eggs and Ham”
Subject:
Busy Day!
* * *
Hi everyone!
I’ve had a whirlwind day! I scheduled a dentist appointment for McKenzie this morning, and then we all went to the store to buy shoes for the twins, who seem to be having another growth spurt. We ate lunch out, and then I figured I really should stop at Jiffy Lube and get the oil changed in the car, since it was long overdue. While the car was being worked on, we walked over to our hair salon and got all four of us trimmed up. After that, I went grocery shopping, and then the girls were getting really fussy, so I took them home and put them down for a nap. Spent all afternoon doing bills, then laundry. Since I was working on clothes anyway, I decided to sort out the spring and summer clothes the girls will need and get them washed and put away. Fixed supper, put on a movie for the kids, and ran next door to feed the neighbor’s cat for her while she’s visiting her niece in Ohio. Came back and read a story to the girls and put them to bed.
I have a ton of e-mails! And I still have to marinate some chicken for a slow-cooker recipe tomorrow. So if any of you wrote me, I’ll try to answer right away. I just feel like I’m chasing my shadow today! But I did get everything done that I wanted to, which is a good feeling.
Have a good evening.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Brenna L.
Subject:
Re: Flowers
* * *
I’d suggest the pink ones. They’ll match our dresses better. Don’t do multiple colors. Simple is best.
I think Tom felt like he didn’t have any choice. Don’t get upset at him. We’ll manage.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Zelia Muzuwa
Subject:
Re: Music
* * *
Considering “Ride of the Valkyries” is already an unusual choice for processional music, I’d suggest letting the band play it so it will sound more traditional. You don’t want Shoji upstaging you. You’re the bride.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Brenna L.
Subject:
Re: Adoption reference
* * *
I’d be happy to do a reference for you for the adoption! Just send me the information you have. Good luck on the home-study tomorrow!
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
J. Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Question about your parents
* * *
I don’t mind you asking at all! My parents have never mentioned how they felt about not being pregnant with me. But I can understand that Darren must be experiencing some very real grief. I wouldn’t think that it will ever stop mattering completely, but I bet the pain won’t be quite as intense once he goes through the adoption. It has a way of healing hearts, from what my parents have said.
Love,
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Thomas Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Wedding Favors!!!
* * *
How about some homemade Ozark fudge truffles or something? I think everyone would really appreciate that more than the rolling pins or corncob pipes.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Thomas Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Huh?
* * *
Dulcie,
You okay? I didn’t say a word about wedding favors. I wanted to know if you got my voice mail last week.
Tom
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Thomas Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Huh?
* * *
Tom,
I didn’t write you about wedding favors! That was your mother. How did you get it? And no, I forgot to check the voice mail. I’m sorry! I’ll do it right now.
Dulcie
* * *
From:
Zelia Muzuwa
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Music
* * *
Wow, Tristan is really going to flip when he hears about this! Bad enough, I’m getting married on the sly, but “Ride of the Valkyries”? You gotta be kidding me! Defense mechanisms aside, I didn’t think she’d go through with it!
* * *
From:
Brenna L.
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Adoption reference
* * *
That’s just plain mean, Dulcie! Are you trying to make fun of us?
Brenna
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
“Green Eggs and Ham” Thomas Huckleberry
Subject:
Argh! Do-over!
* * *
Have mercy on me and delete whatever e-mails I just sent! I beg you. No one got the right reply. I’m very sorry. Didn’t mean to confuse, offend, concern or otherwise disturb your peace. Ignore the whole thing. But give me until tomorrow to sort it out, please. I must really need some sleep…
Dulcie
* * *
From:
VIM
To:
Rosalyn Ebberly
Subject:
I can’t keep up…
SAHM I Am Page 25
