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The Schuyler Fortune IV: Raspberry-1
Jerry had surprising news for the twins one morning.
"We're getting hitched," he told Eric, "after we spent all that time in the car together driving to and from graduation and got acquainted and one thing led to another... we'd wondered if you and Loren would be our best men. We don't have anyone to give Olive away but figured you guys might consider coming to the wedding."
"Where and when?" asked Eric, "We'll be there."
"Haven't decided, really," said Olive, "perhaps Newark, maybe Hackensack."
"How about on the beach in Maui?"
Jerry cleared his throat and Olive laughed. "We don't have that kind of money, dear boy. I think we spent our honeymoon dollars coming to your graduation."
"Loren and I would like to make that happen for you."
There was a shocked, silent moment and then Jerry spoke. "Well, that would be nice, but you guys haven't been saving up for that, I'm sure. To get us all out there and back would take money none of us have. Let's just operate within our budgets..."
"Tell you what, dad. Loren and I have saved up some money and we want to donate it for a trip and a wedding gift.
Our bio rents will never get married again, after all!"
"Are you sure about this," asked Olive, "and are you sure this won't land you or us in hot water with Michael?"
"Michael is still feeling pretty bad about Marcus," replied Eric. "Both his little brother John and his mom, Blossom, need a pick-me-up and could use the trip to Maui if invited."
"Of course, they are invited." Olive's natural kind heart kicked in immediately.
"There might be another five guests that would like to come."
"Oh, dear," said Olive, "we don't know anyone else that has the money or time to go."
"The five guests that would like to be there, if you don't mind, are a little hard to reach, but if you send the invitation to us, we'll make sure it gets to them. They are family too."
"Are you serious about this or are you just teasing us?" Jerry wanted to know.
"Serious, dad." Loren wanted to tell them everything, but it wasn't the time exactly. "We'll handle the transportation arrangements, the hotel, the beach wedding, the food, passports, the wedding outfits and a wedding gift. Serious. There's enough to cover it and then some."
"All you need to do is show up at the Teterboro Executive Airport exactly three days before the wedding at 8 a.m. and give your names to the front desk person at the office and identify yourselves. Bring your passports please. You won't need a boarding pass. If you have any trouble at the gate or hangar, just call me on my cell at this number. They should bring you right in. The important part is... please don't eat breakfast that morning. I will e-mail all of this to you."
"Have you chosen a wedding date already?" In order to make the arrangements Loren and I need to know the dates as soon as you decide.
"OK," replied Loren, "I'm writing this down...so in about six weeks. That will work just fine. I am sending you a list of what we talked about. Do you both have a passport?"
"No, we never needed one before now," said Olive."
"Loren and I will get an express passport for both of you here and his secretary will call you to arrange that process right away. I'll call you again about things every two weeks to keep track of progress and make sure the details are checked off. Both of us are psyched to come to your wedding."
The next call, to the White House, consisted of a discussion with aunt Barbara who thought the surprise would work. Arrangements made possible by unlimited amounts of money were made easily and quickly. Secret Service agents went on ahead to scout out the locations and Air Force lifters took Presidential limousines and vehicles over along with Marine One, the Presidential helicopter.
The lovely Montage Kapalua Bay hotel in Lahaina was selected and vetted. A wing for the entire party was sealed off and again inspected very carefully and guarded with twenty-four-hour Secret Service protection prior to the arrival.
Olive and Jerry wanted to be on time and ended up arriving an hour early at Teterboro Executive Airport. The New York traffic rush hour had abated much earlier that day for some reason.
At seven a.m. Thursday morning, Jerry and Olive drove up to the airport and parked out in front. Jerry took their two bags, checked the tenth time to make sure they had both their passports, and locked the car.
The two were silent and were hoping they had brought everything.
They walked into the office. "Welcome to Teterboro Executive Airport! We've been expecting you. I'll call the porters for your bags," smiled the desk secretary. "No thank you," replied Jerry, thinking of the tip money they didn't have.
"These porters get paid to do their job and aren't allowed to take tips," the secretary replied.
"OK." said Olive, "You're on."
Two smiling porters came in and introduced themselves. "Welcome! We would be delighted to screen your bags right here."
As the bags were scanned, Jerry and Olive stepped through a screening device. The porters took their bags to a golf cart and drove to the Schuyler hangar. Jerry and Olive stepped off the cart and walked into the hangar waiting room. Soon Michael, Eric, Loren, Selene, the kids, Blossom, Blossom's son John and Carol Schuyler walked in with other porters ferrying their luggage.
"Are we all ready to go?" Michael's voice boomed as everyone welcomed the wedding couple.
"Let's do this." They walked out into the vast hangar to see a very large Gulfstream 650ER that looked to them like a screaming eagle. Olive nearly turned around then, but Jerry urged her to go with the flow. She whispered to him that this wasn't right to spend this kind of money plus she didn't recognize the airline.
He remembered that Michael had told him they had enough money to buy his job out and fire him and that hadn't happened...but he was starting to believe the part about the money. He wondered if the family owned this jet and guessed these airplanes weren't cheap.
The cabin crew welcomed them, had them fasten their seat belts, explained the entertainment system, showed the reclining chair features, the map system, and gave them Bose noise-cancelling headphones to wear. The kids got their usual electronic `crayons' on iPads.
Menus for breakfast came to read and soon the jet arrived at the head of the line of departing aircraft, then with breathtaking speed screamed `almost straight up' per the nervous and excited couple.
Flying level again at forty thousand feet or so, cabin crew and the flight chef began service. The tables were covered with linen, the fine Schuyler-embossed Wedgewood china and sterling flatware, Baccarat crystal and vases filled with roses.
The breakfast service was remarkable. A breakfast casserole with hash browns and scrambled eggs accompanied by hot sauce, toast, and fruit of various kinds. In addition, the kids (big and little) were served heart-shaped waffles with pure maple syrup and candy hearts.
After service, everyone relaxed. Jerry and Olive made plans to visit a wedding shop in Kahului for the bride's dress before the wedding. The kids watched movies and played games. Everyone else listened to music or snoozed.
"Michael, we'll have lunch ready in a half hour." The flight chef and his assistant had been working hard all morning. Five hours had elapsed since breakfast.
Drinks were served. Olive passed on the alcohol, so Jerry did also. Fiji water was served to Blossom, OJ to Eric, Loren, Selene, John and the kids. Michael ordered a glass of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio.
Each passenger ordered from the selections menu. The entrees had been obtained at Cipriani in Manhattan, Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City and fresh selections from New York City's produce markets that morning. Appetizers and salads or soups were served first.
A vegetarian ravioli, steamed, diced turnips in a dill sauce and steamed carrots julienne with butter was the first option.
The second was barbecued beef flown in from Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City served with tiny new potatoes, steamed to tenderness, squished flat in their skins and fried to a golden brown.
The third option was grilled wild fresh Alaskan salmon, again served with a dill sauce with a choice of vegetables.
Olive and Jerry ate silently, feeling slightly overwhelmed without their normal environmental cues. All of the passengers enjoyed slices of papaya, mango and blood oranges with lavender ice cream followed by classic chocolate chip cookies.
The passengers disembarked at Kahului airport later that afternoon to feel a mild breeze and smelled the scent of plumeria from the leis draped around their necks at arrival. The temperature was 75 degrees outside. They walked to a set of limousines near the Gulfstream 650ER and enjoyed the ride to Lahaina. Near the end of one runway, Jerry spotted a large blue and white Boeing 747 that said `The United States of America' on it.
"Olive," he exclaimed, "I think that's Air Force One!" Michael heard him and looked at the 747.
"Yeah, I think you're right. In fact, I heard that the President was going to be in Hawaii sometime this week. My sister doesn't keep me informed of her comings and goings much."
The limousines took their time getting to the Montage Kapalua Bay. The traffic for some reason was excruciatingly slow. Loren remarked on this to Jerry and wondered if it didn't have something to do with the visitors from Washington, D.C.
When they arrived at the hotel, the limousines were stopped some distance from reception. Uniformed security directed them and their luggage, now on bellboy carts, to a separate wing.
Jerry and Olive were directed to a room to freshen up or take a nap or swim or do whatever they pleased. They would find fresh fruit in the room. Twenty-four-hour room service was there to be used so they were encouraged to order lunch in their room and they would all meet in the lobby at seven p.m. to go to a restaurant for supper.
Olive and Jerry talked about their trip in the room. Jerry remarked that a lot of money was tied up in that jet and this hotel wasn't free either. Where was all this money coming from? Olive replied that she didn't know either and since it wasn't costing them, she wasn't going to ask. They heard a knock at the door and opened the door to find a pair of sales persons from a local bridal shop with pictures of dresses and accessories. They were told that the expenses had been paid and to just pick out what they liked. Fittings would happen tomorrow.
At supper, they all went to a restaurant where an older man behind a desk took them all to an enormous table in a private dining room for a wonderful Friday night dinner of mahi-mahi encrusted with crushed macadamia nuts and fried in butter. Blossom skipped the fish and ate a kind of squash flower, dipped in a thin batter and lightly deep-fried, along with julienned beets and steamed snow peas with a mango compote on the side. Each meal came with tiny orchids on the dinner plates.
Everyone seemed to rest well and the next day was spent preparing for the wedding. Blossom and Carol helped Olive get everything ready. Eric and Loren had errands to run and details of the wedding to review with Jerry. They had arranged a tuxedo for him and picked up that one and others for the men, including two more, one for a taller man and one for a boy, Jerry estimated to be ten to twelve years old or so, but they weren't there so he dismissed it.
The wedding was scheduled for ten o'clock the next morning. The bride and groom were ready fairly early and were escorted to the beach where in a magnificent setting of ocean, rocks, and gardens, an outdoor wedding chapel had been constructed with chairs, a gazebo, plants and other decorations. Eric and Loren went with them.
The family began to arrive at 9:40 a.m. and precisely at 9:45 a.m. (to Olive and Jerry's surprise) sirens began to wail and a whole lot of policeman and other uniformed agents arrived, many looking out to sea, some down each end of the beach, most looking out from the gazebo toward the hotel. A large green and white helicopter slowly landed on a pad near the hotel and marines secured the aircraft.
What looked a little like Secret Service agents to Olive escorted some people off the helicopter and the group headed toward the wedding site.
A party of four persons, President Barbara and Mr. Jack Darnell and their two kids between Secret Service agents walked up the aisle, smiled at Michael, hugged Eric and Loren, gave a little wave to everyone and were escorted to the groom's side.
Olive and Jerry knew the President's face and remembered her from Loren and Selene's wedding. They had not even dreamed she might attend their wedding and Olive cried for a second, not for the first or last time that day.
She also cried when the minister talked, shed tears while she said, "I do", shed a tear before, during and after a long kiss, was misty-eyed, and wore a brilliantly lighted smile walking down the sandy aisle looking only at Jerry.
At the reception in the hotel, Olive and Jerry met the President and her family again. They thanked Barbara for attending their wedding.
"Wild horses couldn't keep us away," said Barbara, smiling.
"Eric and Loren are my favorite nephews along with Blossom's son John," said the President. "The three of them are my only nephews and I'm very grateful to have them in our family's life."
Olive and Jerry danced, the President and her husband danced, they all did eventually, even Blossom. They partied for several hours, enjoying the food, the flowers and the Hawaiian music. The President and her family were the first to leave.
Eric and Loren exchanged glances. It was time. They went to Jerry and Olive, starting to wilt on the sidelines after a long day and asked to have a word with them.
"Mom and dad," Loren said, "it's time for the rest of our wedding gift to you. We have had a great time with you. We both appreciate what you have done for us in many ways. Neither of us knows what the future holds for you or us. Since you are part of our extended family and our biological parents, we care about you very much. Neither Eric nor I want either of you to ever worry about money."
Loren paused for a minute. "Our idea was to give some money to a personal trust for you to be invested. The interest, the dividends and increase in stock value over time will help you in case of illness or job loss and also for buying us peppermint ice cream when we come visit with our kids someday, your grandkids."
Loren grinned at Eric and continued, "We figure money invested in the stock market has brought in about ten percent per year plus or minus, with good years and bad years."
"Hoping you would say yes', we asked the Schuyler trust to transfer money last week to the Jerry and Olive Rabin Personal trust' to make that happen. As long as you stay married and in the case that one of you dies, that trust will generate income for you both (or one of you if one of you passes away before the other)."
"When you are both passed someday, the original fund money will come back to the Schuyler trust. The trust money itself won't be available to give away to someone else in your will."
"Any money you save and anything you buy with the money generated from the trust is yours for always and you can use that in a will or give it away to charity or whatever you like."
"The trust is now funded with ten million dollars," said Loren. "We anticipate the annual income at ten percent estimate levels for you is a million dollars per year before taxes, more some years, less other years."
"My job," he said, "is to manage your trust with the other trusts that I manage, including my own, to get the best yields for you. Since you both were kind enough to donate your 'smart' genes to Eric and me, your chances of that money doing well are above average. Your job is to enjoy and save what you are able of the estimated one million per year, or, more precisely, the amount left over after taxes."
There was a very long silence and Olive cried once again softly. Jerry just stared at Eric and Loren for a long while, then smiled with tears in his eyes and gathered both of them to him in his arms, thanking them for their kindness.
"Your wedding gift, however," said Eric, "is different. We are flying back tomorrow to the mainland with dad's sister. You are going to continue on Sweet Pea, the Gulfstream, around the world."
Loren continued to explain, "Here is a debit card to use, if you want to use it to draw on your new account at Chase Bank in New York or any ATM almost anywhere for food and lodging and miscellaneous items. It draws on a one-million-dollar account, which is waiting for you to use. It's yours as a part of our gift to you, in part making up for what we couldn't give you all these years."
"You might want to get together with the pilot tonight sometime and here's his card with his number. He also has your cell number and so does the cabin crew and chef."
"The flight attendant will ask you some personal stuff about food allergies and food preferences."
"Now this is awkward but be sure to try out the bed in Sweet Pea."
"It's very comfortable," he grinned, "and the flight attendant makes the bed every day and changes the linens and has extra everything including toothbrushes if you need those. Ask her about laundry services, about anything and she'll have a great answer. She has needles and thread for emergencies and aspirin and million other things handy so just ask her for anything you need."
Loren told them that the pilot could help plan the stops since he knew the range of each leg that Sweet Pea and the crew could comfortably do. "If you want to stay a few days at each stop, do it. Please take your time on this trip. We don't need the plane back for the next three weeks at Teterboro."
"You don't have to pay for the fuel or the crew or their expenses, they have a credit card for all of that. If they say avoid Afghanistan or Syria or some other place, please go along with them. They have good sense in where not to take the jet as well as where to go."
"They can help to arrange English-speaking tours in many countries and if not, call the Schuyler trust."
"This is their card with the telephone number. Ask for Mrs. Roberts and she will be glad to help."
"You might want to carry your passports in this leather case. In the small leather case here, you will find all of the cards I just talked about plus two cards. One has Eric's name and private number on it. Please keep that private. The other has Loren's number which is also private."
"We love you both. Please call us or visit when you can, and we hope that is often. There is a suite at the museum just for you to stay when you are in Manhattan and you can stay there full-time if you want to or just when you visit. We'll tell you more about it when you come the first time."
The boys left, feeling like they had just birthed parents.
Back at Andrews Air Force Base, the family and bags were transferred to a large Schuyler Sikorsky that sat amid the military planes and helicopters there. Barbara and Jack and their kids got into their motorcade and sped downtown to the White House.
Michael wasn't saying much by the time they reached New York. He said he had indigestion, said he would take some antacids and rest.
He was unresponsive the next morning when a maid found him in his bedroom and called 911. He could not be resuscitated by the ambulance paramedics or by the trauma team at a large local hospital. Michael was pronounced dead at 9:00 a.m. exactly. Eric and Loren couldn't believe what was happening when the physician gave them the news. They began to cry, hugged each other like orphans again and then sat quietly for a minute or two.
"We should call the family," said Eric. He called the White House and asked for Barbara emergently and when she answered told her.
She burst into tears and asked what had happened.
"The doctor said it was a massive heart attack."
Jack came on the line then in conference mode and received the news. "Oh shit, you're kidding me! Has anyone called Mom?"
"Loren is calling her right now."
Carol was, by that time, back in Oregon with her precious roses and just getting up. She was stunned to hear from Loren and nearly collapsed upon hearing Loren's news.
"No, Loren," she cried, "he was fine in Hawaii! He can't be..."
Once again, she found strength to board her helicopter with her maid and fly back to Teterboro.
At the funeral for Michael, the President of the United States and her family mourned for her brother. Ambassadors from Europe and Asia attended out of respect.
Directors of art museums from around the world heard the bells of the Riverside Church in New York City toll and the mighty organ play portions of the Duruflé and Faure requiems. Those in attendance heard Blossom give the eulogy for her son-in-law whom she loved, missed already and hoped to see in heaven soon one day.
"Michael was a giving man, a giver of strength and comfort to his family, a servant of the Lord in the truest sense, the father of two adopted sons, a loving brother and proudly, my son-in-law, my son's husband.
On the way home in the limousine, Eric asked Loren to attend the Schuyler trust attorney meeting tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. in Eric's suite. He told Loren there was a lot on the agenda.
Jack, still in town after the funeral, represented Barbara, Blossom and John attended, representing their wing of the family, Jerry was in town and attended by invitation, not wanting to interfere with matters that didn't concern him but wanting to do anything he could to help at the same time. Carol attended by invitation to represent the Schuyler wing of the family, although Eric and Loren were now firmly in charge of the family fortune.
First, the attorneys, a bank of them, confirmed that Eric was the designated beneficiary for the rest of his life, unless declared incompetent first. That meant that he owned the trust, including all art objects, all gems, all monies, all equities and bonds, all precious metals, all assets of the trust and was in total control of it.
By trust bylaws, his responsibilities included designating the next beneficiary, keeping in mind the need for family members trained in art and finance.
They confirmed that Loren was now the fund director of several very large funds including his own, the Blossom Jones fund for Africa, the personal Blossom Jones trust, the Jerry and Olive Rabin trust with combined assets exceeding fifteen billion dollars, smaller but substantial trust funds for Darren and Tom, for John, for Andrew, to include his own continuing salary and benefits, continuing access to the Schuyler jets and helicopters and living space at the museum for his family until his last grandchild passed away. The Schuyler trust was to continue growing under the separate investment management initially then as decided by Eric.
Second, the attorneys clarified the roles that Eric and Loren were to play. Each was responsible for caring for the family and the extended family.
Third, Carol was to keep her access to the fortune, access to the jets and helicopters, her properties and her own art objects and gems. Blossom was to continue to receive income from her own personal trust and access to the helicopters and the Gulfstreams as she desired. Michael's expressed wish was that they live at the museum for the rest of their lives if they wished.
Jerry and Olive were to continue to receive income from their own trust under its conditions with access to the helicopters and jets as Eric decided. The paragraph let an additional twenty million dollars to the Jerry and Olive Rabin trust for Loren to manage with the same terms.
Fourth, a surprise to all was a paragraph in Michael's will leaving forty million dollars each to Marcus' little brother John, Michael's friends Darren, Andrew, and Tom Gratz in personal trusts, the income, dividends and increase to each man every year with the original amount invested by Loren and available for each man to leave to his children or grandchildren, biologic or adopted, after his death.
If the men had no biologic issue or no adopted children, the principal was to revert to the Schuyler trust at his death.
Blossom and John were astonished. The attorney read on, "and I am giving this income to John in memory of my husband Marcus, his brother, whom I hope to see again and want to say to Marcus then that I took good care of his little brother whom I regard as my little brother, to Darren and Tom who rescued me after Marcus died, to Andrew who freely gave me a future.
All four of these men (John, Andrew, Darren and Tom) live at the museum and it is my desire that they do so for the rest of their lives, with access to the Schuyler helicopters and jets as they wish, recognizing that Eric as beneficiary has the final say."
Fifth came the latest review of the Fund performances. All were outperforming five per cent over the Dow Jones Index.
Carol talked to them about the art and gems in the Schuyler trust collection. Specifically, Eric wanted her opinion about the relationships with many art museums around the world.
She recounted the valuable art pieces that they would have had to scramble for and possibly not get had they not had advance warning of sale from some of the world's top museums who hoped to eventually get enough money together to buy the pieces, but were glad to have a friend hold those pieces for them for a few years while they saved and raised funds to buy them from the Schuyler trust. The trust gave them the right of first refusal at the same price they would have paid and that after five years of no increase in price. Museums loved that deal and funneled pieces of art to the trust very often.
The pieces they didn't `ransom' became permanent pieces of the trust unless sold because they became a poor investment or were needed to raise cash for another investment, although that event was not common for many tax reasons and long-term art investment reasons. Frank Schuyler himself, Carol's father, had told her years ago that states and governments don't levy property taxes on art nor income taxes.
Art from great artists comes in a limited supply of originals and since the number of collectors and the appetite of museums constantly grew, prices obtained for the pieces grew and grew much faster than one's savings account or even the stock market in many cases.
Eric agreed with her assessment and announced his intention to honor these agreements and continue and encourage them. He said that things would continue as usual for now and he wanted all of the family to let him know when he could be of assistance to them. He wanted all of them to share in the family fortune, saying that it was still difficult for all of them to spend enough money every day to spend all of the increase in the fortune every day.
He didn't want them to test the theory, however, and didn't want to spend money just to waste it, but to do good for others when possible.
The next day Lena called.
The conversation was short. In Berlin she had met a friend named Gerhardt, a boy she had known since grade school, and a friendship had developed yet again. He had also asked her to marry him. She was torn. They had been friends for a long time and had shared friends and teachers, both were Germans and spoke German and her grandfather approved highly of his advanced degree in teaching.
She thought it best if she sent back the necklace and ring by insured courier. Her father was upset, but it was her decision to make after all. Living in New York City had never been her dream. She thought the world of Eric but had decided not to marry him.
Eric received the package a few days later and returned it to the Repository in Manhattan. He felt broken and free all at the same time, angry that he had been dumped and tried to console himself that it was better to know now rather than after a deeper commitment. That strategy didn't work so well for him.
His depression deepened and some of his duties went aside until his family noticed. He lost interest in art and business and the trust. He felt hopeless as if the lights had gone out and weren't going back on anytime soon. He ate too much, watched too much TV, noted that some people thought he talked too much and didn't like the decisions he was making but didn't know what to do.
Blossom was quick to see the changes. She made an appointment for him with one of the finest psychotherapists in Manhattan. On the day of the appointment she went to his suite, knocked, went on in without waiting for an answer and told him he was going to a doctor's appointment.
"Get up out of that bed, honey. We're going to a doctor's appointment and I'm never late. Wear these pants and this shirt and this light jacket," pointing to the articles in question.
She turned around while he hustled to dress.
The limousine was waiting downstairs and they both rode downtown. At the office, Blossom wrote a check for ten thousand dollars and gave it to the receptionist, smiling. "Let's see how well he gets on this much."
Blossom waited in the reception area for an hour while Eric was with the psychiatrist. Eric walked out clutching a prescription and a calm look on his face. He told Blossom a little about the visit:
"He listened a lot, asked me some questions and told me I had clinical depression of a moderate to severe nature. He wants to see me back in four days and to take one of these every day. He told me about the possible side effects but said none of them happened to every patient and that no one patient got all of them. He said that one common complication was vivid dreams and not to worry about that.
"The doc asked me another question that I can't talk about."
Eric and Blossom continued their ride back to the museum, Eric continuing his own silent, internal review of the doctor visit to himself.
"The doctor told me I wouldn't notice improvement for four to six weeks, then one morning I would wake up and the real me would be back in many ways. Same problems, but a different feeling about my ability to work with those problems."
Eric was recalling his conversation with the psychiatrist and repeating it to himself. "He told me I was angry inside. So angry that my mind would not and could not cope with the rage. The mind converts anger into fear and also into a kind of self-directed anger where the overwhelmed mind just doesn't work like it should. Under those conditions, the brain's normal chemical operations may fail to keep up."
"I asked the psychiatrist," Eric went on to himself, "if I ever could get well again."
I remember that he looked at me quietly for a few minutes and then said, "You have a keen intellect, are educated, are motivated...since you are young and want to be well, I believe the chances are very good that you will be able to put this behind you. It will take some time, some work and some discussion for you to understand clearly where you've been, where you are and where you can be. You have had some hard knocks in the last few months, not to mention real pressure to perform."
"In addition, you are just now coming to terms with your adopted fathers' relationships. Have you considered that loving someone doesn't always involve the traditional man and woman bond? One useful exercise for you to consider is to note just what or who attracts you. Have you considered that you may be more attracted to men than women?"
Eric was stunned. The doctor went on.
"Some people fall in love with a gender; some fall in love with a person. Some do both. Others never learn to love at all."
"This is both homework and an alert for you. You cannot know your future. You can read up on issues and learn the language of your interest, but you will only experience some of life when it happens. You can make some of your future happen, not all of it."
"You don't have a sign on your forehead that says `gay' or anything. Your sexual desires, your gender preferences are evolving. If there is a 'love of your life' out there, you will know it. Even then, that person has to feel the same way for the dance to happen. Your life is still going to be lived regardless of other's decisions."
"We now know that there is a spectrum of attraction between men and medically speaking, it isn't always important to label these. At the same time, dealing with the issues involved can be helpful."
Before he died, Michael had presented Eric with suggestions about preparation for his work. Lena had been his first priority and now that job was unexpectedly completed. Check. The next task was to obtain formal art training.
He realized that his art major at Grinnell had prepared him for advanced training at the Louvre. He thought about a fellowship there in European Art and decided there was no time like the present.