Act One of A Complex Apology:  The New Arrivals

NARRATOR:     Like mostly happens to Good News, little got reported.  But when the Bad News hit, it made international headlines.  What was hardly reported is that for 15 years a small part of Saint Paul, near Como Lake, had become extraordinarily neighborly.

SCENE ONE:    It all began to spark when Joy and her husband, the doctor, moved into the big white house on the corner by the lake.  A beautiful house, large by neighborhood standards, it sits at the bottom of a hill that slopes towards the lake.  Tallish white pillars seem to mirror the larger white pillars of the Pavilion across the lake from their house.  Como Lake is wide at its foot and head, but has a snug waist line, with the Pavilion and the big white house pulling in the waist from opposite sides, a splendorous view for those walking around the lake.  Before Joy and “The Doc” (as we called him) moved-in, the house was owned forever by the Henderson’s.  Old Man Henderson hung onto it as long as he could, faithfully keeping the house whitewashed and the large yard mowed.

Soon, Joy and the Doc’s three delightful daughters joined the world.  Next door lived the Darymples, also newly-weds, with their two boys.  The block had a nice mix of kids, young parents, middle-aged parents, and veteran grandparents.  Everybody showed-up at the annual block party:  lawyers, doctors, professors, hard-working blue collar types, retired folk, church-goers and not-so-much church-goers, even a couple gay couples with their kids, no one in visible poverty, and more than the usual assortment of politicians.  Idyllic for 1982.

Joy was a dark-haired beauty, slim and athletic, who eschewed make-up.  Although she certainly had her political points-of-view, she was mostly thought of as a good mom, a friendly helpful neighbor, a master chef who always threw a great Christmas party, and an avid gardener.  Not everyone on the block knew she started each morning reading the New York Times to the blind on the radio, but just about everyone could see she was in love with Fred and liked to be kissy-face.  Apple Pie in all appearances.

Tomorrow:  Act One, Scene Two