An Inheritance

Chapter 18

For the remainder of Thursday and all day Friday, Lauren spent most of her time immersed in the words her mother had written so long ago.  It was as though she was reliving her mother’s life; the letters were so long and detailed.

It was hard for Lauren to imagine her mother so young and yet so mature.  The first letter was apologetic and very similar to what her older sister had written when she too had left abruptly, but sadder and with more regret. 

“ … ma mere … please, I know you are upset, but I just couldn’t take it any more.   Knowing,  yet not being able to do anything … that is my definition of hell.  Maybe I just am not the person that you hoped I would be.  I will always miss you, and will miss our land, but this is something I have to do.  I just cannot stay there any more.”

This meager explanation frustrated Lauren, what, exactly, had made her mother leave?

The second letter described the visit with her sister, Adelaide, and she seemed very appreciative of the help and guidance she had offered. 

“… Adelaide was so welcoming and warm.  Her daughters, especially Millicent, were so fun to see and be with.  I am more a sister than an aunt, with so little age difference, but I am so much older in so many ways.  I envy their innocence and carefree life, I wish I had that same rosy vision.”

As Lauren read her mother’s letters, she was getting a picture of someone who, although young and inexperienced, had a fairly clear vision of what she wanted.  So absorbed was Lauren that she almost felt like she was there, that she and her mother, Alma, were one.  After leaving Adelaide, she had taken a train north until she stopped in Paterson, NJ where she found a job as a clerk in a hardware store. 

“… I can’t believe my luck, I found a job and the owners are so wonderful.  They’ve come from France and took over the store from a relative of theirs who is very ill.  They treat me as their own and have rented me the apartment over the store.  They take classes at the local college and have encouraged me to get my high school diploma there.  I miss you so much ma mere but I’m now starting to find a peace I know I never could have found at home.”

Alma quickly received her high school diploma, then went on to take additional night courses at the same local college.  She found law interesting and pursued her degree to become a legal secretary.

While still attending college, Alma met a young pharmacist, Conrad Gerard.  He had just graduated and was working at the drug store just around the corner. 

“… Conrad is so handsome, smart, and funny!  All of his customers just love him.  He’s gentle and patient with the older ones and does magic tricks for the children!  It is so ironic that I come all the way to New Jersey to find a man whose family was originally from Baton Rouge.  However it does worry me that he is so much like us, but he says that part of his life is closed and refuses to talk about it.  I’m not quite sure if that is a good thing or not.  He is nothing but wonderful to me, and yet … there is something I just can’t bring into focus.  But I know this is the man I will marry.”

Lauren became engrossed in her mother’s descriptions of her everyday life, the life she and this young man were creating.  She described their dating and Conrad’s proposal less than a year after their meeting. 

“… we have known each other for such a little time, yet it seems like we have always known each other.  We will marry next month by a justice in the courthouse.  I know you would like to be here, and really, I wish you could.  But I’m just now starting to feel as though I have come into my own and the bayou is no longer pulling me.  I know this hurts you, just as I know you understand.”