In memory of Patrick Meadows and Stephanie Shepard
Patrick and Stephanie worked tirelessly for years to repair and reconstruct the stone walls of their place in Deia. It was done without concrete, by Mallorquin standards. He told me that each rock must touch its neighbors in five places. I came across this picture in the same place I found several old letters.
Here’s a recording from 25 March 2017 in which Patrick talked about the time he added an I-beam to the house in Deia, and how the new owner eventually solved a structural problem that resulted.
A story Patrick sent to me on 13 March 2015.
In the kitchen preparing breakfast I have bacon on medium heat, abiding by Steinbeck’s advice to cook it slowly, a couple of eggs at the ready, abiding by my own rule never to put eggs in the refrigerator, and humming to myself to cover the absence of anyone to share the morning, I hear noises up behind the house. For a moment my subconscious believes it is the person I jokingly call my bitter half, finishing her meditation, my signal to start the toast, but it takes only a second to remember that can’t be so, she having departed the earth a while ago.
It is over a year since I have taken the hatchet and saw to the brush and brambles blocking the way to the water deposits and beyond those, Continue reading “Ashes”
Here are some pictures from late April of ‘3 of the Deia house known as Davall Es Penyal (“House beneath the rock”) that Stephanie and Patrick bought and made into a beautiful home for many years.
Thanks, Lee, for the suggestion to share these photos.
Here’s a two page letter from 17 February 1979 that Patrick sent to Gretchen, myself, and another sister, in which he describes the work that he and Stephanie have been putting into their house, and the music, and the writing. He also adds observations about each of us and how he longs for us to visit.
The letter concludes with a powerful final paragraph, including Continue reading “I Would Not Like to Grow Old without Knowing My Children”