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gillsā€ā€”after such a splendiferous repast, logy-as-could-be seemed to be the theme. Everyone had appeared to more-or-less ā€œnestle inā€, to their dinette chairs.

Then, Susan spoke:

ā€œJason Dear, you may want to go out, for a walkā€¦ or take in a movie or something. Sunday is kind of the day when Eric and I devote ourselvesā€¦ devote ourselves, exclusivelyā€¦ to one another. We always enjoy being aloneā€¦ alone, with one anotherā€¦ on our precious Sunday afternoons. I suppose that you could go up, and sitā€¦ or, maybe, lie downā€¦ in your room. But, frankly, Iā€™m getting just a little worried about you. Youā€™ve never gotten out. Never gone out. Well, havenā€™t been able to go out. Not in the entire timeā€¦ that youā€™ve been here.ā€

ā€œWell, itā€™s only been five days, Susie. Like you saidā€¦ I kinda didnā€™t have time to reallyā€¦ā€

ā€œI know, Dear. Thatā€™s why I thinkā€¦ and Eric agreesā€¦ we think that itā€™d probably be well for you go ahead, and to get out. To get outā€¦ and do something! Do something . . . just about anything . . . this afternoon! Maybe even something outrageous! Weā€™re not throwing you out, of course. But, you seeā€¦ā€

ā€œOh yes we are,ā€ interrupted Eric. ā€œLook, Jason. For one thing, you need . . . to get out, and to see things. Do things. Meet people. And, Sunday afternoon is our private time! Private time! For Susie and me! Iā€™m sure you understand!ā€

Jason wasnā€™t sure that he did understand. Well, he thought he did. Believed that he mightā€”but, he really didnā€™t want to explore, this remarkable coupleā€™s ā€œprivate timeā€ nuances. Notā€”in any great detail.

ā€œYes, of course,ā€ he answered. ā€œYouā€™re right. I do need to get out. Stretch the old legs. Look around. I canā€™t thank youse guys enough . . . not nearly enoughā€¦ for all youā€™ve done for me. For everything . . . youā€™ve done for me. For allā€¦ for everythingā€¦ youā€™ve meant to me. Besides, I really need to walk off this eighty-pound ā€˜banquetā€™, that Iā€™ve just eaten. The ā€˜banquetā€™ you both call ā€˜breakfastā€™.ā€

He pulled away from the table, and hurried (as much as possible) up to his room! Slightly out of breath, he grabbed his jacket. His original jacket. The one heā€™d worn, on his mind-warping tripā€”from 2001.

Fortunately, it wasnā€™t so cold outside, that the jacket would be useless. It would keep him sufficiently warm. (Otherwise, he was positive, Susan would come up with a topcoat or an overcoat or a parka. ā€œOrā€¦ most assuredlyā€¦ something!) The ā€œotherā€ jacketā€”the one, heā€™d worn at work, all weekā€”was kind of caked, with mud.

The roomer walked northā€”past Plymouth Road. He, of course, was familiar enough, with the geography, of the area, to know that Schoolcraft Road was, probably, a mile further north. What he didnā€™t knowā€”was that there was a set of well-used railroad tracks (always railroad tracks) between Plymouth and Schoolcraft. Heā€™d have to climb a four-foot fenceā€”on both sides of the tracksā€”to continue on his journey. But, he was certainly not going to let a couple such barriers stand in his way.

Heā€™d hoped that heā€™d not tear his pantsā€”while negotiating the fences. Surely Susan would want to know why. Well, had the worst happened, why should he not be able to, simply, tell her the truth? This prospective questionā€”hypothetical as it wasā€”bothered him. And he didnā€™t know why.

He finally reached Schoolcraft. Well, ā€œfinallyā€ probably is not a totally accurate word here. By the time heā€™d approached the playgroundā€”behind Cadillac Elementary Schoolā€”there was a good deal more spring, in his step. Moreā€”than when heā€™d started out. A distinct surprise!

So this is where Grandpa went to school, heā€™d thoughtā€”as heā€™d walked around, to the front of the building. The edifice was sort of nondescript.

Jason couldnā€™t understand why his grandfather had always spoken so highlyā€”so passionatelyā€”of the place. Had continually referred to itā€”with such flat-out reverence. Could there be some kind ofā€”well, some kind of auraā€”something spiritualā€”about the school? An invisible saint, maybe? A guardian angel? Some sort of mystiqueā€”that Our Hero was unable to fathom? At least, at that significant moment?

He certainly had understoodā€”comprehended completelyā€”what the old man had, so movingly (and had so often), spoken about, when heā€™d been in church that morning. But, come on! This? This is just another stupid school building. What was the big deal? Of course the young man had never been enthralled, with school! Never! Ever! With any school! Under any circumstances!

Exactly what have you accomplished? heā€™d asked himself. There it is. A stupid damn school building. And, for this . . . youā€™ve been walking, for the last half-an-hour or so?

In addition, to the inexplicable amount of disappointmentā€”at not beholding some sort of gleaming, sacred, palatial, ā€œtempleā€ā€”there was the realization that heā€™d probably never actually get to see his grandfather. Not as a nine-year-old schoolboy, anyway. He really had no earthly idea, as to what the old man wouldā€™ve looked likeā€”as a young lad. A kidā€”of nine, or ten.

Besides, Jason would be working (thank God)ā€”whenever little Richard Piepczyk would be attending this quite-ordinary-looking, vanilla-appearing, (ā€œdammitā€) facility. In addition, he still hadnā€™t the foggiest idea as to where his grandfather mightā€™ve livedā€”in 1942. Just ā€œnearbyā€.

There wereā€”literallyā€”thousands of houses, in the attractive, middle-class, neighborhood. Probably tens-of-thousands! That manyā€”and all within a half-mile-or-so radius, of the stupid school. Finding his granddad would be a needle-in-the-haystack situationā€”at best! The odds against such a discoveryā€”were completely-overwhelming! Mind-numbingly staggering! Another realization! Another disappointment!

He knew that the busy intersectionā€”of Greenfield, and Grand Riverā€”was close by. He thought that heā€™d remembered there being a ā€œreally hugeā€ Montgomery Ward storeā€”on one of those corners. 1942, of course, would be decades before the retail giant wouldā€”so surprisinglyā€”ā€œgo underā€. A situation that would have been thought impossibleā€”in the early-forties! No one would ever consider, such a far-fetched fateā€”for the then-thriving ā€œretail giantā€!

It seemed as though there would also be one of the ā€œgazillionā€, world-renown, Kresge ā€œfive-and-tenā€ stores there! Who knewā€”in 1942ā€”that, less than two decades hence, the chain would become known as K-Mart?

He would also find a Woolworth dime store in amongst the many businesses, too. They would, eventually, become Woolco, in 1962ā€”and,

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