Part 13
Addleford
looked different to Anna; the week had thrown at her so many different views of
life, from the very rich Kentucky farms to Mrs. Dunlap’s small house. Addleford was home but it would never be the
same for her.
On Sunday
after Mass, Anna went to the house and let herself in. The week had been productive for John and his
crew and Anna was amazed at the changes.
The kitchen sported new colors, a beautiful green on the walls, the wood
cabinetry, and the farmhouse sink. The
appliances were not placed yet and the floor wasn’t done yet either. But the bones of the area were well set and
she liked it. Yet, at that moment she
was so happy that she had taken her aunt’s advice and snapped many pictures of
the house because she suddenly missed the old place and waves of nostalgia washed
over her. She knew that she missed her
mother but the pictures would at least bring back the place she most associated
with her mother anytime she needed to return to what was. And yet, after the week in Kentucky she
realized that almost nothing would ever be the same.
During her
week on vacation, Anna dug in at her apartment and got the move organized much
farther. She parted with some things
that she wouldn’t need, and had Catholic Charities come and get the furniture
she gave away. Anna went to the store
and got some new dishes and some new décor items. At a small furniture store, she found the
couch and chairs she wanted and ordered them for delivery once the house was
done. She talked to John about what he
was going to be doing that week. She
called her aunt and told her all about Kentucky. She renewed her cell phone plan and got a new
phone.
The longer
Anna was away from work, the more she started to see more clearly. The job that took up so much of her time and
drove her to exhaustion had dimmed. The
closer Monday came, the more Anna began to see that something had to change
because she had changed. All the way
home in the van while the teens slept, Anna had been thinking already about
what choices she might have. The first
thing that came into her head was becoming a CPA. It would open some doors to her in the
private sector and could allow her to bring her “numbers” gift into better
use. So with that thought, she
registered for the CPA review at the local university and purchased her packet
of books and workbooks.
On the
Sunday night before she was due to report to work, she got a call from Mrs.
Licci.
“Anna, I
wanted you to know that Erin’s dad has been admitted to the hospital,” Mrs.
Licci said.
“Oh, my
gosh. What happened? Erin and I were talking about him on the ride
to Kentucky,” Anna said.
“Well,
apparently, he has been having terrible headaches and didn’t tell anyone. It finally got so bad, they called the EMS to
come and get him,” Mrs. Licci said.
“Keep me
posted, okay?” Anna asked.
“I sure
will. And by the way, thanks for all of
your help in Kentucky. It was such a
pleasure to get to know you, Anna,” Mrs. Licci said.
“Likewise, the trip has really changed my life.”
Anna answered.
The clock in
the apartment had this loud tick, kind of like a grandfather clock sound. The ticking signaled the end of Anna’s hiatus
from work and with each tick made her more reluctant to return.
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