The Orange Tree
Page 41
Mitch waved goodbye, took Eleanor’s hand and walked with her through the main concourse. “Ever feel like just boarding a flight to somewhere and leaving everything behind?” he asked her.
“Sometimes,” she said. “But when I have that fantasy, I’m never alone. I’m always with you.”
“Me too. And the kids always show up somehow.”
“And once I think of the kids, I see my mother, and it’s no longer a fantasy. It’s our life.” She put her arm around his waist. “I guess we’re too old to be irresponsible anymore.”
“Yeah. Too bad. Stuck together for life.” He stopped mid stride. “You know Ell. I just had this thought. Instead of selling your mother’s car, why don’t we buy it from her. You know for Blue Book plus a little extra. We need a second car what with driving the kids everywhere. We’ll have to get Josh to the Nursing Home to visit Izzy. Probably at the same time Amy will have a soccer game in God knows where. What do you think?”
“I think you’ve left our fantasy world and are being very practical. And mother would think she was helping us, which will be good for her self image. It’s a great idea.”
That night, after he had driven Helga home and she said she would think about selling them her car, which he knew from experience meant she would say yes but in her own time, Amy asked him to carry the potted orange tree down into the family room. So the whole family could enjoy it, she said.
He placed it on the floor next to the sliding glass door. In the spring, he would move it outside on the deck and leave it there through the summer. By September, he thought, probably on September 15th, he would bring the orange tree indoors again.
Author’s Note
This novel is a work of fiction. Therefore, the usual caveat appliesany resemblance of any of the characters to any persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. There are three real people included in the story- Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover and President Richard M. Nixon.
Abraham A. Ribicoff, a Democrat, was Governor of Connecticut from 1955 to 1961, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1963 until 1981. Following his retirement from the Senate, he was active in the private practice of law. He died on February 22, 1998.
Hyman G. Rickover, a four star Admiral was known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.” He was born in 1900 in what is now Poland but at the time was part of Russia. His parents fled a pogrom and emigrated to the United States in 1905. Rickover graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1922. In 1958 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral. For approximately 30 years, he was the head of Naval Reactors and supervised the construction and operation of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarines. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving active duty military officer in U.S. history, having served a continuous 63 years. He died on July 8, 1986 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The words, thoughts and actions of Senator Ribicoff and Admiral Rickover are pure fiction and are solely the product of the author’s imagination.
The words contained in this book of former President Richard M. Nixon are taken verbatim from his presidential tapes. They are his alone. I direct readers to Presidential Recordings:Program-Transcripts, Conversation 545-001: July 24,1971; 9:43 am – 10:36 am: Oval Office-President Nixon, John Ehrlichman, Henry Kissinger, Bob Haldeman. It is far more chilling to listen to this transcript than to read it. For further information on Nixon’s paranoia about Jews in the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, see “Nixon vs. the Imaginary Jewish Cabal,” by Kenneth J. Hughes, Jr., The New York Times, September 24, 2007; “Nixon’s Jewish Count: The Whole Story,” by Timothy Noah, Slate, September 26, 2007.
Finally, I am indebted to a story in The New York Times, many years ago, for giving me some details about how Jewish soldiers in the Union Army celebrated Passover during the Civil War.
Martin R. Ganzglass
March 2011
Acknowledgments
I have been blessed with a dedicated group of highly literate friends who read the manuscript, in its many versions and offered numerous helpful suggestions. The Orange Tree is a far better story because of their contributions. I am deeply indebted to my family who encouraged and supported me throughout the entire process.