Visitors

     When I was young, we had a few unusual visitors to our home.  When I was about three or four, I was informed that we would have a guest named Hazel.  I was sitting on the couch in our living room, all clean and dressed in a fresh dress.  I was eating hazelnuts. I thought how funny that there was going to be a visitor with the same name as a nut. I wondered if she would be round like the nut, would she be brown, was she little?  I was disappointed to see that she was just a normal person who just wanted to talk to my parents.

     There was a man named Lou who periodically came to our home. He seemed to be a close friend of my mom and dad.  He would drop by during the day time, around lunch time, when my parents would both be there.  He was a very happy person, and would greet my brother and me. When he was about ready to leave, he would reach into his pocket and pull out a silver dollar and hand it to me.  I really liked having Lou come.

     My mother spoke a little French. She was actively involved in some local social organizations, and went to meetings frequently. One day she told me that a lady from France was coming for luncheon and that I was invited.  This was a school day, and I always came home for lunch.  Mother told me her name, I think it was Madam Bertillion, or something like that.  I never could remember it. It sounded like the soup we had sometimes, buillon, so that is what I called her (but not when she was there).  Again, I wondered what a lady would be like if she were named after soup.  She turned out to be nice, but didnt talk or even look at me except when we were introduced. She talked funny, too, in a high, breathy voice.