The Moorish palaces of Alhambra is over a thousand years old. It stands on the top of a hill here in Granada, and is a series of Islamic palaces built for the last Muslim Emirs of Spain. Several hundred years later the Catholic monarchs overran the place, and then it was allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries.
Islamic poets, artists and architects don’t spend a great deal of time on outward appearances, so the inner courtyards, gardens, and facades are really remarkable. Christians could take a lesson from the analogy of inner beauty, come to think of it.
The outside of the Alhambra is kind of boring. But inside?
Gardens constructed for contemplation.
Rooms with veined windows for the sunlight to gently illuminate.
It was as if we had traveled backwards in time several months in the calendar. Gardens grew everywhere. We even found roses in bloom.
The palaces are set high on a hill, with views of the city from all directions. It was spectacular to watch the sun set.
Yet, there is something eerie about the city of Grenada, and the deserted walkways of the Alhambra.
Perhaps echos of a magnificent civilization that is no more? Perhaps the impermanence of things? Garcia Lorca was shot here in the bloody Spanish Civil war here in the 1930s.
Arguably one of Spain’s most important poets and playwrights, Lorca’s murder in 1936 is matter of controversy here as recently as 2009.
At this road, I am anxious to leave Granada, as it is sad and haunted. Looking for the life of Spain, we walked many narrow alleyways to get away from the larger shops and cafeterias. Here we found Mr. Cortez.
He and his son run this tiny little woodshop that makes these wonderful patterned applique wooden boxes, trays and tables. They have a single part time employee, and it was difficult to walk around the stacks of well-crafted inventory.
I watched Faith and the Senor have an animated conversation in Spanish, and the life of the city began to glow again. Grenada is to be found here, in the tiny alleyways and lined faces of Sr. Cortez. Garcia Lorca haunts the libraries and universities, and the history is bloody and sad. But the life if the city is where it usually is to be found, in the faces of it’s people.
Chapter Seven: The Coffehouse Angel.
Mom had died earlier that morning. By that time, she needed round the clock care, and thank God she had the foresight to store the funds for such an event.About two oclock that morning, her “awake” care provider heard her make a noise. Not a cough, not a murmur, sort of a noise in her throat. She threw off the lap cover and got off the couch to investigate.
“Carolyn? Are you all right?” April was a gentle soul. She was a widow herself, with several children in their twenties. Truly a unique personality to provide such a service.
“Carolyn? Can you hear me?” She gently tugged on Mom’s nightgown. Mom’s face was still. April ran to the phone and dialed 911. Four and a half minutes later the blazing lights and fire breathing emergency vehicles descended in the driveway. They loaded Mom onto a gurney, oxygen strapped to her face.
The men blazed their way to Saint Marks, a local hospital, where Mom was rushed to through the ER without triage.
Brother John made the terrible phone call.
“Louisa, come to Saint Mark’s. Mom has had a massive stroke” It was three oclock in the morning.
The hollow feeling in my gut reappeared. . This was just to familiar. My sister had made the same same telephone call just eighteen months ago.
“Louisa, Are you awake?Are you understanding what I am saying?”
It was about three thirty by then.
John’s voice broke. “Get in the car now. Mom is on a ventilator, and the doctor’s don’t seem to think there’s much point in doing that, but she can stay on it forever if we want. “ John was openly sobbing now. It’s a terrible thing to hear your brother’s heart break.
I informed the children of what was going on. Thanks be to God they were old enough to stay by themselves.
I gathered them all in my room.
“Children, Nana said for years that she never wanted anyone to see her when she’s died. She has very likely died now. I am going to the hospital to see her, and I don’t want you to come. “
The girls burst into tears. David Junior sat on the bed, stoic. So sad to have seen so much loss in just eighteen years.
The lonely night was snowy. The road hard, unforgiving. I drove on autopilot.
Nana? Dead? Who would parent me? Who’s the grownup now? Who did I get to go to for support?
Nana was one of a handful of people I knew without a doubt was on my side all the time. Even when I was wrong, I was right. Nana was crochety, opinionated, crabby and full of love for her family from her thinning hair to her arthritic ankles.
I passed a nearby Starbucks.
A ghost of a migraine was forming around my temples. Shit. A migraine. The last thing I needed.
Caffeine! That would help. I pulled in to the store. Thank God it was one of those twenty four hour ones.
I pulled open the door, squinting against the harsh lighting. A bright, cheery barista greeted me. Hundreds of times I had been here, never seen her.
“Hi! What can I I get started for you? “ My gosh, what a greeting so late at night. Or early in the morning. Whatever.
“Grande chai tea, skim milk, steamed extra hot, no water or foam. “
“Great!”She gave me a dazzling smile. “And how’s your day going?”
My day? How’s my day? What to say. It was four thirty in the morning. Which day?
The truth always works.
“My mother died today.” I could feel my face start to crumple.
The barista stopped what she was doing. Her face took on an unusual glow.
She walked around the counter and put her hands on my shoulders and gave me another beatific smile.“I’m here to tell you something. May I give you a hug? “
“Yes.”
“I ‘m here to tell you that you are loved very much”.
For a moment, I wept, comforted on the shoulder of a stranger.
I got my drink, got in the car and continued the lonely drive. Peace started to creep into my soul.