Two Women, Chapter 10

 Ted is patiently waiting for an elevator in the lobby of his apartment building.  It is late Sunday morning.  He has just returned from having brunch alone at his favorite nearby restaurant.

An elevator door opens and Ted receives the shock of his life.  Out steps both Mona and Monica...together.

"What the..." stammers Ted.

Mona and Monica giggle.

"You two know each other?"

More laughter.

"Yes," Mona said.  "Thanks to you."

"Huh?"

"And now I'm taking Mona to a Brazilian restaurant here in Philadelphia.  And tonight...we're flying to Rio de Janeiro."

"Can I come, too...to the restaurant, I mean," asked Ted.

"Maybe another time, Ted," replied Mona.

The two women, arm in arm, walk away, leaving Ted all alone. 

The end.

________

I'll be on vacation until December 12th. 

Pills in the Bag

Some years ago, I was flying from New York (where I was living) to Sao Paulo.  There was a stopover in Miami.  

The departure from New York was delayed by bad weather.  As a result, there was a concern that the flight from Miami would leave without me.  When I arrived in Miami, late at night, I was informed by American Airlines representatives that my flight to Sao Paulo was about to leave and I should run to the gate.

I ran as fast as I could, carrying bags in both hands.  I also had difficulty finding my gate.  When I arrived there, I soon realized I had run for nothing.  The plane remained at the gate while waiting for more passengers from another delayed flight, this one from Boston.

When I arrived the next morning in Sao Paulo, I was in the baggage claim area when I was surprised to hear my name being paged.  I was informed that while I made my flight out of Miami, my bags didn't.  They were still there.

I was promised I would receive my bags the following day.  OK, but included in the bags was my colitis medicine.  That meant I would be without such medicine for a day, perhaps a day and a half.  

I started to panic.  Would the delay in not having my medicine cause me any health problems?  I researched the Internet to find out whether I could buy my medicine locally.  I could...and without a prescription.  Interesting!

I decided I would wait it out and not take the local medicine.  My bags arrived within 24 hours...and I didn't have a colitis attack.  But, I learned my lesson.  NEVER...NEVER...NEVER put my pills in checked bags.  ALWAYS in the carryon.  

Ironically, today I take Brazilian domestically produced colitis medicine, the ones I wouldn't try years ago.  It works well.  

     

Bob Duprez

 Bob Duprez was born in Queens, NY on October 13, 1944.  He grew up on Long Island and graduated from Hofstra University in 1966 majoring in French.  

Over the next three years Bob served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army assigned in Vietnam as a French interpreter for our side in meetings with officers from the South Vietnamese military.  Later, he was a teacher of foreign languages and a department head at a private school in Wilmington, Delaware for more than thirty years.

I met Bob in Brazil many years ago at an English language school where we were one of the few Americans signed up to teach Brazilian adults.  Actually, we knew each other before we met as I had written some articles about Brazil for a website and Bob had corresponded with me regarding them.

I remember working with Bob during English language immersion classes.  We also roomed together on road trips for the school.

Bob and I discovered we had something in common.  We were both avid sports fans, especially baseball.  He loved his "fighting" Phillies and I of course loved the Giants.  

Later, when I was in New York, Bob invited me to his home in Delaware.  He came to visit me a couple of times when I was in Chapel Hill, NC.  

I remember one Sunday in Sao Paulo when the two of us went to a bar for drinks.  I had three beers and Bob had three caipirinhas, a strong cocktail.  It was his first experience with the drink and he got very intoxicated.  Bob asked me to walk him to the nearby taxi stand as he was not sure he would be able make it by himself.

Bob and I watched the 2007 Super Bowl together at his apartment in Moema, a district in Sao Paulo.

I remember one time Bob and I got together on the Penn campus in Philadelphia and went looking for somewhere to have lunch.  We entered an all salad place and he complained, "I want a hamburger."

Coincidentally, Bob and I both got married (each for the second time) on July 13, 2013, and both to Brazilian women.  He had met Maria de Deus on a beach while they were both assisting blind people.  

They married in Florida and settled in Lake Placid, a small town south of Orlando.  Cristina and I visited their home once while we were in the area visiting my son Bret.

The last time I saw Bob was a few years ago when we and our wives had lunch at the Olive Garden restaurant at the Millenia Shopping Center in Orlando.  After lunch, Bob and I split away from the women and walked through the mall, talking a lot.  

I always emailed Bob on his birthday and he always responded thanking me for remembering.  This year he didn't and I was concerned.  Late that night I googled Bob and discovered his obituary.  He had died "peacefully at his home" this past June 13th.  I'll never forget Bob.          

The Great Chicago Fire

 In 1972, my ex-wife, Bonita, and I bought a brand new Fiat 124 Sport Coupe and embarked on a fabulous three-week cross country adventure.  On the way back from California, we stopped off in Chicago, our first time there.  I remember seeing the Sears Tower from the street level.  

About 1990, we returned to the Chicago area for a family bar mitzvah.  In actuality, it took place in the suburb of Evanston.  The highlight of the trip was the temporary disappearance of my son Bret (at a Toys "R" Us).  

A couple of years later, I took Bret to Chicago to see a baseball game at the historic Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs.  I was afraid they were going to tear it down and I wanted my son to see it before they did.  They didn't and they haven't.

In 2007, while working for the Office of Sponsored Research at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I attended a seminar at another Chicago suburb (Northbrook).  One evening while there, some of my colleagues and I went to Comiskey Park in downtown Chicago to see the White Sox play baseball.  

A few years ago, Cristina and I flew to Chicago from Sao Paulo in order to visit my son Bret who was in nearby South Bend, Indiana on business for the LPGA.  We were there for only a few hours before we rented a car and left the windy city.  But, we had a great lunch at Labriola's.

On October 8, 1871 (about one hundred fifty years ago), a fire started at about 8:30 PM in Chicago "in or around a small barn that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street. The shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire." 

"City officials never determined the cause of the blaze, but the rapid spread of the fire due to a long drought in that year's summer, strong winds from the southwest, and the rapid destruction of the water pumping system, explain the extensive damage of the mainly wooden city structures."

"The fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6 km) long and averaging 3⁄4 mile (1 km) wide, encompassing an area of more than 2,000 acres. Destroyed were more than 73 miles (117 km) of roads, 120 miles (190 km) of sidewalk, 2,000 lampposts, 17,500 buildings, and $222 million in property, which was about a third of the city's valuation in 1871."

"Of the approximately 324,000 inhabitants of Chicago in 1871, 90,000 Chicago residents (1 in 3 residents) were left homeless. 120 bodies were recovered, but the death toll may have been as high as 300. The county coroner speculated that an accurate count was impossible."

I'm glad my first visit to Chicago was 101 years later.  

The Quiet Man

In 1952, legendary director John Ford made the film The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald and Victor McLaglen.  Filmed on location in Ireland, The Quiet Man is the story of an Irish born, Irish-American (Sean Thornton played by Wayne) who returns to his roots to live in the house he was born in.

The Quiet Man was the second of five films that Wayne and O'Hara made together.  The others were Rio Grande (1950), Wings of Eagles (1957), McClintock (1963) and Big Jake (1971).  

The Quiet Man was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning two: Best Director (Ford) and Best Cinematography - Color.  The other five nominations were: Best Picture (Ford - won by Cecil B. DeMille for The Greatest Show on Earth), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (McLaglen - won by Anthony Quinn for Viva Zapata), Best Writing, Screenplay (Frank S. Nugent - won by Charles Schnee for The Bad and the Beautiful), Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Color and Best Sound - Recording.

Thornton is met at an Irish train station by his guide Michaeleen (Fitzgerald).  Later, Michaeleen describes the newcomer to his Irish friends as, "a nice, quiet, peace-loving man, come home to Ireland to forget his troubles.  Sure, yes, yes, he's a millionaire, you know, like all the Yanks." 

Shortly after arriving in rural Ireland, Thornton spots, along a country road, the beautiful Mary Kate (O'Hara).  It was love at first sight.  The scene reminds me (in The Godfather) of when Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) first sees Apollonia (Simonetta Stephanelli) along a country road in Sicily.

Unfortunately, Mary Kate, as is the custom in Ireland at the time, needs her brother's permission (no father) to marry Thornton.  Squire Danaher (McLaglen), the brother, is angry at Thornton for buying the piece of land he also had his eye on.  He forbids the union.  "Never!"

Later, the Squire is tricked and allows Thornton and Mary Kay to marry.  However, when the trick is revealed the Squire refuses to give Mary Kay her dowry, which represents "her personal value to the community and her freedom."  

Growing up in America, Thornton doesn't understand what the dowry means to his wife.  Without her dowry, to her the marriage is invalid.

Having killed a man in a boxing ring, Thornton hesitates to fight his brother-in-law.  But, when Mary Kay abandons him the day after their wedding, he gets the message.

Thornton follows Mary Kay to the train station and drags her all the way to the Squire's home.  There, he demands either the dowry or he will return Mary Kay to her brother.  

The Squire grudgingly gives Thornton the dowry in cash, but then ensues one of the longest fights (eight and a half minutes) in film history.  In the end, Thornton and Mary Kay are a happy married couple.