Summer of Pineapple and Tuna Fish via LaurieJStone
Heads turned as Nana tottered toward me in her signature silver stilettos. She hugged me, pulled back, and gave her standard greeting. “How do I look?” I gave my standard reply. “You look great Nana.” And she did. Her bleached blond hair was pulled into the usual up-do. She wore white pants and pink top and even in her early sixties, Nana radiated youth and energy.
She was small, but tough. In the forties, Nana had been one of Boston’s first female steel buyers. After her divorce from my grandfather in the fifties, she’d taken her two teenage daughters and bought a parcel of deserted Cape Cod beach. Over the years that parcel grew into a twelve-unit motel surrounded by luxury resorts.
Mike and Joe turned out to be nice guys and yes, they slept under the back porch. They left a few days later, but a colorful line-up of friends, motel guests, and boyfriends took their place. Every Friday she hosted a cocktail party for motel guests, many of whom returned each year. I can still hear the laughter and tinkle of ice in the gin and tonics as everyone gathered around the piano. “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” was the favorite. Of course Nana provided the musical accompaniment. She played piano as she did everything in life, by ear, but with spunk and gusto.
My parents picked me up the next day, the three of us happy to be reunited after so many months. Nana stood in front of her pink motel, waving goodbye as our car pulled away. I turned and watched as she grew smaller in the distance.
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