D.D. Phone Home

Still no word from The Dowager Duchess (DD). Cell phones right now are useless. Am I obsessing a bit? As they say in South Dakota, "You betcha!" The most recent news is that her co-op's power plant suffered serious damage (and a possible gas leak) and the co-op is being evacuated.

It could be two or more weeks before the power plant is operational again, while other parts of the neighborhood have already had their power restored. Historically (more than 45 years), it's been a benefit to the co-op to not rely on city power. We sure gloated during the 1965 blackout when we were living life as usual while the entire city around us was dark.

BRIGHTON BEACH LOOKING WEST, YESTERDAY.
(PHOTO FROM THE WEB.)

MY VIEW IN SEPTEMBER.

Everyone was supposed to have evacuated before the storm, but hindsight is 20/20.

My mother has friends in neighborhoods more mildly impacted, but I don't know if she'll get to one of them or to a shelter. So, right now it sucks to be 3,500 miles away. Some very thoughtful old friends of mine in Brooklyn and the vicinity are getting the word out to track down the Dowager Duchess. I'm very grateful. It's also comforting to know that my mother's neighbors were all as stubborn as she was. There's safety in numbers. She's not alone!

1980ish, THE NEW MOTHER
AND THE DOWAGER DUCHESS.

It's also good to know that, although it will be a long slow walk, she has managed to stay physically fit enough to walk down those 17 flights of stairs, with lots of resting along the way. She's a survivor. When we finally do talk, she'll probably say, "I don't know what you were so worried about!"

So, Dowager Duchess, when you finally do get to catch up on all the blog posts, I hope it's a comfort to you that all three of your boys have been obsessing thinking about you!

And by the way, your grand-niece Lindsey had a beautiful, healthy baby girl yesterday (with help from grand-nephew-in-law Mark)! Congratulations on being a great-great-aunt... again! And congratulations to Carol and Paul on their first grandchild and to Al on being an uncle for the first time!

The baby is not named Sandy.