Dinner with Fran

Last night after work I ran and got flowers to bring with us to Fran's house for dinner. Amy made the most beautiful bouquet for Fran. I kept telling Amy - "she is a very old woman, and if you make it too elaborate, she might just faint - or worse!."

But she didn't faint. She came to the door in her apron and spent the rest of the evening running around, insisting that we wouldn't help her, and entertaining us with stories of her trips teaching in Europe and Japan.

the courses:
~cheese, tomatoes and crackers served with and iced tea
~Gestapo
~chicken admiral with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and a side of corn on the cob ~(She's an old lady who eats corn on the cob - she's amazing!)
~little, tiny glasses of white wine.
~rhubarb and homemade cookies for dessert.

These are things I knew about Fran:

~Okay, I knew she has an identical sister. (It's amazing to think of these two excited little old who are nearing 90 who still drive, but prefer to walk places, instead.)
~She taught German, French and Piano. Also, she plays the viola
~She is kind and full of energy.

These are the things I found out about Fran:
~Her napkins were monogramed with only her initials - she's never been married and never had children
~She started teaching at Miss Fine's School in Princeton directly after graduate school in 1940
~She wakes up at 5am, but 4am yesterday
~She served in the war
~She is an excellent hostess

Also she says adorable things. She was holding a small dessert bowl filled with rhubarb in both of her hands as she found it in the kitchen and brought it to the dining room "oh, this one got lost!" she exclaimed, as she put it on the right spot on the table. And When her misshapen corncob came out of the pot she announced "this one needs orthodontia."

Over coffee, She showed us old yearbooks from schools she worked in throughout the years. She was beautiful and tiny, as she is now. After doing some of the math last night Helena and I realized that Fran could not be any younger than 86 and is most likely 89 years old. 89 and lovely

Then, it was time to go, we were more exhausted than she was. We left with the extra squash and tomatoes from the garden.

How incredible.

[Also, Russell - did you call me last night? at 1:30 or 2? I think Russell called me drunk last night from Calvert county. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a problem where I pick up the phone when I'm completely asleep and I have an entire conversation. I hope you wrote down what you said, Russell, because I certainly don't remember.]