A friend like another brother

A reconnection…

Leonard: Just got a letter this morning. One from an old-time friend, T.E., I’d reached out to in my “only connect” campaign.

Virginia: Only connect? Sounds Forsterian.

Leonard: Walt Whitman originally. But I thought I’d better start reconnecting with old friends before health issues set a deadline making it impossible to write coherently any longer.

Virginia: So who has replied so far?

Here's to times past...

Leonard: Some haven’t responded. But T.E. did. Irrepressible letter writer, he always was.

Virginia: You go back far?

Leonard: T.E. is a year older than me. I’d worked in Saudi with him. We crossed the Rub' al-Khali in a convoy. My car broke down, he rescued us. Then he went all over the world, working in many countries, finally settling in the Portugal.

Virginia: A character then.

Leonard: Brilliant mind, great at business, sparkling conversationalist, huge heart.

_________

Voice-over

Sometimes we search beyond familial DNA for people who share our values, inspire us with their spirit, share the art of conversation with us. 

Blackberry, not mulberry

 In the restaurant garden…

Ivan: Nice here. Lot of plants. Oh, and berries.

Elderly man: That’s a mulberry. Silkworms eat the leaves. Try one.

Ivan: Hmm. Looks, and tastes like a blackberry.

Elderly man: Mulberry.

Mimi (coming up behind with coffee for the guest): It’s a blackberry. I should know. I bought it. I planted it. Sorry about my father. He tells people the wrong names for all the plants. That’s why I’ve labelled them.

Elderly man: Mulberry.

Mimi: OK. OK. Mulberry.

___________

Voice-over

It was a blackberry. Sometimes it’s easier to let truth go.

The Power of Cousin Diversity

At a family party…
Gerard: We last met, oh, it must have been, what, 1965?
Louisa: When I was at junior high. I remember it.
Gerard: Now, your grandfather Louis was a brother of my grandfather Robert. That makes us second cousins.
Louisa: And your grandfather was a doctor whereas my grandfather was a journalist.
Gerard: And that’s where the family gets interesting. Because of the diversity. You became a pilot and I worked in academia.
Louisa: Interesting how many of the cousins went to work for big organizations rather than a small family firm like our great grandfather who was a bookseller.
________
Voice-over

Cousins by KC, 2020

Siblings may be different but cousins even more so. Family trees reveal diversity in occupation. Some follow a small family business. Others break out. Are there reasons? Are there patterns?