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So moves along the melody, Wisdom, from the soundtrack of A Good Year just as our lives move along.
All the family knows we do not celebrate Christmas. The guests who showed up for dinner that day were the ones whose lives had been tormented over and above the norm. This was an opportunity to allow me to take their minds away from what heaviness rested upon their shoulders. They must have felt free to come in that there was an awareness no gifts would need to be exchanged. They seemed to
need a quiet, uncluttered place free of any distracting tinsel.
The buffet and sideboard was loaded with the bounty of my daughter and our shared efforts for cooking. My house was squeaky clean as if for only special guests.
As we waited for everyone to arrive I pulled the 4x8' folded piece of cardboard out with the Pensoneau genealogy, pictures included of relatives in France from a distant past. The resemblance of Russell Crowe to our grandfather was instantly noticed. After the years and events were pointed out I spoke to them.
“I’ll just put this CD on in the background of “A Good Year. You don’t have to sit and watch it. I love the music and it does show the area from where the Pensoneau family lived in France. I love that Russell Crowe looks so much like
our Grandfather we knew as Narcisse Pensoneau.” Experience has taught me not
to push my values, beliefs, and hobbies and such on the young people.
Imagine my pleasure to see them quietly watching the movie.
Quiet conversation around the table allowed these great grandchildren of Velma Louise Pensoneau to for the first time talk about their grandmother’s death. All had their own story to tell about the sad event. Enough time has passed they could
discuss with light abandon the parts of their grandmother’s life they remembered and I felt the healing in their voices.
The nephew who grew up in California vineyards was able to share choice pieces of information, too. As he left there was a lighter step in his stride it seemed to me.