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Chapter 4 – Philadelphia – Day 3
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There were smaller versions of The Thinker and The Cathedral which is a pair of hands coming together about to clasp. Bette suggested that maybe they should get a replica of that sculpture for the house. Tina thought that would be nice. She thought the hands were that of a woman as they were so graceful and expressive.
The two moved on to the abstract exhibits and the landscapes and cityscapes and finally to the portraits. Bette and Tina loved so many of the pieces they saw. But once in the portraits, Tina wanted more than their cursory walk by tour. She wanted to examine the technique and the shading of many of the pieces. She was absolutely enamored with all she saw.
They moved on to the furniture and china collections of the museum. After about 3 hours of touring, Bette suggested that they think about leaving the museum. Tina was ready. She had seen so much and enjoyed every minute of it. They went to the gift shop and purchased a couple of replicas of Rodin’s work and had them shipped to their home. They headed out to the street.
Bette: We need to make a charitable donation to this museum and to the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York. I’m sure they need funds to restore and maintain these beautiful works of art.
Tina: That is a good idea. Maybe we need to set up a foundation which can make annual donations to various museums to keep these great art works available to the public.
Bette: That sounds like a good idea. When we have our November meeting with our investment advisor, let’s talk about that.
Tina: Thank you Bette for bringing me here. They have some fantastic pieces which I have seen in books, but to see them in person is just so thrilling. I never realized how tall George Washington was until I saw the exhibit here. He was well over six foot tall. And for the 1700’s that is tall.
Bette: Yes, I think he was only 1 inch shorter than Abraham Lincoln who everyone seems to know he was tall. So, what would you like to do now?
Tina: Let’s find a place and have a beer or a cocktail. Then let’s go back to the hotel and think about dinner.
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Hi Martha, what an amazing trip to Philadelphia. There was so much information regarding Melvin and what they learnt if him and his life. Poor Bette, I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to explain this all to Mary and her sister as it has obviously hit her hearing all this. Tina is such a tower of strength to her, I love how they are so besotted with each other and hold each other up! I love hearing about their plans for Angie and Daniel, they are so attentive to their children and want only the best for them. The way they talk through everything with them making sure they understand .
Finally the love they have for each other, is incredibly. They way they do everything for each other, they just want to be together, all the time. Enjoying being out shopping, visiting museums, enjoying meals or just cuddling up on the sofa. They are, as you said, the other half of each other !
Loving this so much, will continue on….o hope you are also continuing on, with this story….
Take care and Thankyou, for this amazing piece of writing!
Thanks… I have always thought that the relationship between Bette and her father was the most important relationship of her life prior to Tina. I could see that she struggled to love and admire the man who always seemed to believe she never quite measured up to his standards. But in my mind, I always knew that Melvin loved his children with all of his heart. He just didn’t have the ability to show this to them. His thought was to just leave them all his worldly possessions and they would know. But the truth is that until Bette talked to Gabriel Scott and to Harriett Myers, she would never know how much Melvin loved Bette, Kit, Mary, Paris and even Tina.
When Tina points out that if Melvin had told Bette on his death bed that Mary was alive and that she had another sister, Bette would be in shock. But if he told her that he had known for 15 years or more, Bette might have taken a pillow and smothered him on the spot. The truth was there was never going to be an ideal time to tell Bette or Kit about Mary Southerland. And Bette knows this deep in her heart. She also knows that all of this is a part of the past. A past which is done and dusted. And all the what ifs and if onlys are a waste of energy. Melvin and his relationship with Bette, Kit and Tina is what it was and had its impact on their lives. For Bette and for Tina, it explains so much. It explains why Tina is a part of his will. It explains why the final distribution was 18 years after his death. It explains how he found out about Mary Southerland and her daughter Paris. It explains how Paris was educated in England during her teen years and college years. And it gives another dimension to the personality of Melvin William Porter.
Bette is going to explain most of this to Kit, Paris and Mary in a future chapter. And in their own way, they will reconcile the Melvin they knew to the Melvin to the man they found in Philadelphia.
This for me is the most emotional chapter I have ever written… deep in my soul, I feel the loss Bette feels for the relationship she never had with her father and that is more painful than the fact that she had all those years of loss in not knowing her mother and sister. The reason is because Mary and Paris are still around and there is opportunity to have a good relationship with them. But Melvin is gone and there is no opportunity to mend that relationship with him. Such as life. But as Bette Porter and Tina Kennard always do – they learn from the mistakes including the mistakes of others around them. They have learned a lot from Melvin and much of it is what not to do in life.
Thank you for reading this and commenting…. it is rather gratifying to see that someone sees this story as a gratifying piece of entertainment. There are several more chapters to this Volume and it will continue.