Chapter 26

SANDY -- Sunday, October 15, 1961

Sunday was cloudy, but the rains had ended by morning, and there was hope that the sun might poke through by the time we were due at Sarah's for lunch. I woke Steve with a kiss, and we cuddled for a few minutes. I heard Mom working in the kitchen, so I slipped into my robe and went downstairs.

She gave me a knowing smile, and said, "You guys were noisy last night!"

I blushed, and said, "Oops! I guess we did get carried away a bit!"

She said, "Not a problem; more power to you! I'm fixing a hearty breakfast; I think you might need it!"

I cried out, "Mom!", but she just laughed. I poured two cups of coffee and took them back upstairs, giving one, along with another kiss, to Steve.

I said, "Mom said we were noisy last night! She told me that she's fixing us a big breakfast, I guess she thought we might need it!"

We sat and drank coffee for a few minutes, and then I headed for the bathroom. When I got finished, Steve went in.

We went downstairs for breakfast, and, as she had threatened, Mom had fixed us the works! Fortunately, she didn't make any more remarks. We had a comfortable, leisurely meal, and afterwards we read the Poughkeepsie Journal, which took us all of ten minutes between the three of us! I asked Mom, "Is Walt coming tonight?"

She said, "Yes, he said he would like that".

I asked, "Does he like spicy food? I know you do, and Steve wants to try out his Indian Curry recipe!"

Mom said that she thought it would be OK, but that she would check for sure before we started dinner. I said, "There won't be a problem, then. If he doesn't like it really spicy, we can tone down the recipe".

Sarah had told us to show up around noon, and to wear jeans and casual clothes, so at half-past eleven, we headed out in Steve's car, remembering the bottle of wine that we had picked up for them. I directed Steve out route 44, past the parkway for a couple of miles, to a left turn on route 44A. We went past the arboretum, and then took another left on a side road that wound around for a ways. Finally we went around a bend, and saw a long driveway leading to the left, going up a hill. I immediately spotted their place at the top of the hill, a white farmhouse with a red barn and several horses grazing in a fenced-in pasture.

Steve drove up the driveway, and parked. We got out and went to the front door, where I knocked. We heard Sarah call out to us that we should go around to the back. We did so, and arrived at a large, partially covered patio, where a table was set with colorful country style dishes and wine glasses, and a fantastic view of the mountains to the west. I gasped, "This is lovely!" as Sarah came out from the kitchen to the patio.

She said, as I handed her the bottle of wine we had brought, "Welcome to our secret spot! We love this view of the Catskills! And, thanks so much for the wine!"

"This is so nice! Actually, Steve and I were hiking over there in those mountains just two days ago, when he asked me to marry him!"

"How wonderful for the two of you!"

Then she went on, "While Nigel is opening the wine and fixing our first course, let me get this over with. I didn't want to talk about work at all today, since this lunch is a celebration for the two of you, but I really do need a few minutes of Steve's time".

Talking to Steve, she said, "I've been looking at your test program for the past few days, and saw something I want to show you. Here, look at this," as she pulled out a copy of his program and pointed to a few lines of code that she had highlighted. "Now, wouldn't this work as well?", as she brought out another sheet of paper with a few handwritten lines of code.

Steve pondered the code for a few minutes, and then, excited, he exclaimed, "Yes, It's going to be significantly faster! This section is patterned after a similar section in the real application, and the performance improvement will be most welcome!"

I had been following their discussion, and, even with my limited knowledge of Reaper programming, could see that Sarah was onto something big. Just then, Nigel came through the kitchen door with an open bottle of wine. As he started to pour fill the glasses, Sarah handed the papers to Steve and told him, "Take this with you, and think about it when you get back to Washington. Now, it's time for our celebration! Enough of this computer nonsense!"

We sat and sipped the wine for a few minutes, and Sarah asked, "Have you set a date for the wedding yet?"

I replied, "Not a specific date, but sometime early spring. Steve is committed to staying in Washington for at least two years. Paul told me that I should have no trouble getting a transfer to one of the IBM Federal Systems operations in the Washington area, but I don't feel comfortable moving before Reaper is delivered. Then Steve is going to have to get his program going before he'll be able to get any time off".

Sarah got up from the table for a minute, and brought out a bowl of chilled potato and leek soup, garnished with chopped herbs. After she served it, she said, "We both like to cook, but don't have much time for it during the week. We've discovered that a large freezer is a real help in that kind of situation; you might want to consider getting one for yourselves".

We talked about food for a few minutes, as we slowly savored the soup, and then Sarah said, "Tell me more about the wedding!"

"Obviously, we haven't done much planning yet. We do know it's going to be informal and very small, just family and a very few friends, including the two of you. I guess Mom and I will have to start looking over possible places, preferably an outdoors setting, to hold it, since it won't be in a church".

We had finished our soup, and Sarah told Nigel, "Come help me with the salad, and you need to bring out more wine".

They collected the dishes and disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes. Soon they returned, Nigel with another bottle of wine, and Sarah bringing a large platter with a marvelous looking chicken salad.

Sarah said, as she sat down, "Don't feel that you have to do this, but I just consulted with Nigel, and he agreed that it would be our great pleasure to offer the two of you the use of this patio for the wedding. Think about it and see what your Mom thinks; there's no rush to make up your minds".

I looked at Steve, and could tell that he liked the idea as much as I did. He said, "Sarah, Nigel, that's very generous of you! I love the idea, and can tell that Sandy does also. I'm pretty sure that Sheila will like it also! We'll talk to her about it tonight before I have to go back tomorrow afternoon".

Sarah passed the plate of salad, saying, "Please help yourselves". We did, and started to eat. It certainly wasn't like any chicken salad I'd ever had before! I exclaimed, "This is delicious! You must share your secret with me!"

"It's easy. The herbs and spices are what make it so good; that, and using a vinaigrette dressing instead of loading it up with mayonnaise and celery, like most chicken salads. I'll be happy to write down some notes for you later this afternoon".

STEVE -- Sunday, October 15, 1961

Lunch was very pleasant, and the two bottles of wine that Nigel had been pouring throughout made it even more enjoyable. After a simple fruit bowl for dessert, Sarah brought out a pot of coffee along with four cups. I took Sandy's hand and we sat peacefully, enjoying the coffee, the view of the mountains, and the good company.

Finally, I looked at my watch, and reluctantly got up, saying, "Thank you so much for everything! Lunch today has been wonderful, and we had a great time. Your offer for our wedding is so very generous! I hate to break this up, but we have to get back to cook for Sheila tonight".

We made our farewells, promising to get back together when I would be back next month for running the acceptance test, and thanking them again for their kindness. As I drove back to Poughkeepsie, I said, "That was very generous of them, don't you think?"

"Yes, and it's such a lovely setting. Did you notice that part of the patio is covered? That way, even if it rains, there still wouldn't be a problem with the wedding?"

"Good point, dear one! I'm sure Sheila will go along with this, but I don't think we should say anything more to Sarah until we have talked about this with her!"

We didn't talk much more until we got back to Sheila's house, but Sandy's arm around my shoulder meant as much as any words could have conveyed.

We went in, and Sheila and Walt were both there, sitting in the living room. Sheila said, "As you can see, Walt is joining us for dinner tonight, and he told me he loves spicy food!"

"OK, then, I'll do my best with the curry. I've been told that wine is wasted on curry, and that beer is by far the best accompaniment. We did put some bottles in your refrigerator yesterday, so there should be plenty".

Sandy and I went into the kitchen, and I asked her to get the meat ready and put plates in a slow oven. I started a pot of rice, and then we sautéed the meat. When it was done, Sandy put it aside on one of the warming plates while I started a curry sauce in the skillet. While that was simmering, Sandy opened the jar of chutney that we had bought, and put it on the table.

When the sauce was ready, I returned the meat to the skillet, and called the others to the table, asking Walt to open some beer and fill our glasses. Sandy served the rice, I spooned some curry over the top of each plate, and we sat down.

Walt took one taste, and said, "My goodness! I haven't had any curry this good in fifteen years! I served in the South Pacific during the last war, and really developed an appreciation for the curries and other spicy foods that I was able to sample there".

I said, "Well, I've just begun to work on this. Sandy and I went to an Indian restaurant in Washington a few times, and we both liked the curry. I consulted with my mother, and she came up with this recipe. I'm glad that you like it!"

Sheila said, "Steve, now it's my turn to ask you for a recipe! Since Walt likes your curry so much, I want to be able to make it for him even when you aren't here!"

"Of course, I'll write it up and send it to you. I'm still perfecting it, so let me know what you do to improve it as you go along!"

Then, Sandy said, "Mom, Sarah and Nigel have a farmhouse out near Millbrook, with a fantastic patio that has a view of the mountains. As you know, we were there for lunch today. They were very generous and offered us the use of their patio for our wedding next spring. I told them that we'd run it past you before we made up our minds, but it would be ideal from our point of view, and should save you a lot of concern about finding a place. Why don't you talk to Sarah sometime soon, and see if you think it would work out?"

Sheila and Walt got up, and she came over to me, saying, "I'll definitely do that soon. Steve, if you're going back tomorrow early afternoon, I won't see you again for a while. Take care, now," as she gave me a quick hug.