'For the lifeame, I don't know why you is always pestering me!' shouted Estelle, emerging at last from her bedroom. 'Can't even come out of my room to get cereal without your.."Estelle, are you okay?" "Estelle, how are you feeling?" Estelle, this...Estelle that!' she snorted, winding up her legs to shuffle to the kitchen. Muttering to herself, 'Can't get a moment's peace around here.'
The women, gathered around the kitchen table for morning coffee, watched Estelle's entrance in silence. Rita grinned to herself, for she knew this was the opening to yet another Loveworthy story...soon as Estelle could get out of her own way, that is.
Tomasina walked to the cupboard for Estelle's favorite mug and met Estelle at the stove. 'Would you like some hot water, Estelle?' she asked. 'hmph...yes, of course I want hot water! How else would the tea leaves steep?! came the retort. Tomasina smiled and set the water to cooking as Estelle found her private stash of tea, black tea...not that new age tea with all that stuff in it that shoulda stayed in the ground where it came from...
Finally, tea in hand, Estelle eyed the women and as was her custom, decided to sit down with them. Her chair was open and waiting, her newspaper folded on her placemat. As she tottered to the table, the women returned to their morning chat. This day, the focus was on Hazel's granddaughter, who despite years of education and experience, could not find work.
Puzzled, Tomasina asked, 'Hazel, they say the economy is better than ever now. Unemployment is down. People are spending more. The housing market is stronger. Certainly, there must be work out there for Jen.'
'I know. I don't get it either' worried Hazel. 'I don't keep up on the news like you, Tomasina. All I know is that Jen is really smart. She got top grades in her school. She is applying for jobs all the time. But, nothing comes through?!'
'Well,' started Rita, 'has she tried different kinds of work, or working for companies that she normally wouldn't consider? What I'm getting at is, maybe she needs to be creative about this. If the companies she is used to working for aren't buying her skills, maybe others are. Maybe, she just has to repackage herself' brainstormed Rita.
'She was doing that, Rita. Seems all last year, she was coming up with different strategies,' explained Hazel. 'That is not so much what worries me.'
'What is it then?' asked Tomasina, bringing muffins to table.
'It's that she's getting so down. She's losing her confidence. She told me the other day that she feels like an outsider, an outcast. She's embarrassed to be around her colleagues. She's avoiding getting together with friends because she is afraid they will ask her what she does and then she will have to tell them. She said she feels like a failure...' Hazel's voice trailed off as tears welled in her eyes.
Taking it all in, Estelle finally commented, 'Well, it don't always turn out the way it was supposta. It certainly hasn't for me!'
'What do you mean, Estelle?' asked Tomasina, the only one brave enough to approach Estelle on these occassions.
Shooting a firey look at Tomasina, Estelle held back her desire to leave and took a drink of her tea. 'I mean,' she stated with measured patience, 'Life is fulla disappointments. I woulda said "just deal with it and get on".' She paused. 'But Loveworthy...well, she thought differently.' Rita grinned and sat back with her coffee, ready for the story.
The women, gathered around the kitchen table for morning coffee, watched Estelle's entrance in silence. Rita grinned to herself, for she knew this was the opening to yet another Loveworthy story...soon as Estelle could get out of her own way, that is.
Tomasina walked to the cupboard for Estelle's favorite mug and met Estelle at the stove. 'Would you like some hot water, Estelle?' she asked. 'hmph...yes, of course I want hot water! How else would the tea leaves steep?! came the retort. Tomasina smiled and set the water to cooking as Estelle found her private stash of tea, black tea...not that new age tea with all that stuff in it that shoulda stayed in the ground where it came from...
Finally, tea in hand, Estelle eyed the women and as was her custom, decided to sit down with them. Her chair was open and waiting, her newspaper folded on her placemat. As she tottered to the table, the women returned to their morning chat. This day, the focus was on Hazel's granddaughter, who despite years of education and experience, could not find work.
Puzzled, Tomasina asked, 'Hazel, they say the economy is better than ever now. Unemployment is down. People are spending more. The housing market is stronger. Certainly, there must be work out there for Jen.'
'I know. I don't get it either' worried Hazel. 'I don't keep up on the news like you, Tomasina. All I know is that Jen is really smart. She got top grades in her school. She is applying for jobs all the time. But, nothing comes through?!'
'Well,' started Rita, 'has she tried different kinds of work, or working for companies that she normally wouldn't consider? What I'm getting at is, maybe she needs to be creative about this. If the companies she is used to working for aren't buying her skills, maybe others are. Maybe, she just has to repackage herself' brainstormed Rita.
'She was doing that, Rita. Seems all last year, she was coming up with different strategies,' explained Hazel. 'That is not so much what worries me.'
'What is it then?' asked Tomasina, bringing muffins to table.
'It's that she's getting so down. She's losing her confidence. She told me the other day that she feels like an outsider, an outcast. She's embarrassed to be around her colleagues. She's avoiding getting together with friends because she is afraid they will ask her what she does and then she will have to tell them. She said she feels like a failure...' Hazel's voice trailed off as tears welled in her eyes.
Taking it all in, Estelle finally commented, 'Well, it don't always turn out the way it was supposta. It certainly hasn't for me!'
'What do you mean, Estelle?' asked Tomasina, the only one brave enough to approach Estelle on these occassions.
Shooting a firey look at Tomasina, Estelle held back her desire to leave and took a drink of her tea. 'I mean,' she stated with measured patience, 'Life is fulla disappointments. I woulda said "just deal with it and get on".' She paused. 'But Loveworthy...well, she thought differently.' Rita grinned and sat back with her coffee, ready for the story.
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