The Mayor of Arcadia Gardens
My dad, Moses, was the undisputed King of Arcadia Gardens. When he entered the room, he filled it. He told jokes and stories, and he raised bloody hell if a neighboring table was too close, or if nobody came to push my mother-in-law Betty back to her room in a timely fashion. A king of such stature comes around once in a generation. But I learned today that while my dad was King, Alan is surely the Mayor. I met Alan in the dining room right after Bonnie the caregiver rolled my mom up to her table with the two Betty’s (a second Betty now sits where my dad used to be).
“I’m reading a book about George Washington. Abe Lincoln had his troubles, sure, but George Washington did, too! He didn’t get shot like Abe Lincoln, lived to be 88.” Alan was trying to figure out if he’d spent more time in China or Mexico. “My parents were born in Shanghai,” I told him.
“Shanghai!” he exclaimed, a twinkle in his eye. “I lost my virginity in Shanghai!” There was an apartment up on the third floor of a four story house. A little room. And a garden out back that he never got to see. That seemed to bother him some. The front was too small for a garden, so the garden was in the back. “I was up there three or four times! I had other priorities besides the garden.” Further down the conversation, talking about Chiang Kai-shek. “I was in Taipei before it was Taiwan. Used to be called Formosa back then.”
Born in Beaumont, Kansas, “not even a town,” he said. His grandfather delivered him. Lived in Wichita from eight to eighteen, then he became a Navy yeoman, because he knew how to type. Assistant to five admirals. “Back in the sailing ships, the yeoman used to shine the Captain’s shoes or boots, and he did everything for the Captain.” Been to forty countries, including Brazil. Something about a girl named Soledad. And Lily’s bar, in Shanghai. Ran into Lily again in San Francisco, years later. She made it out before the communists took over.
“Ben Franklin’s dad wanted him to follow his footsteps into the printing business, but Ben had other ideas! He swam out to a ship when he was fifteen, and they pulled him up out of the ocean with a rope and put him to work!” Alan smiled. “I’ve had quite a life.”
By now, lunch was being served, and my mom was having trouble with the falafel. I thanked Alan for the stories and told him I’d be back for more. There can only be one King of Arcadia Gardens, but when the King is gone, it helps knowing there’s a good mayor ready to fill in.
