"Aunt Ada"

In the summer of 1985, I was still basking in the cultural afterglow of my trip through Europe from 3 years before. It will always be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. It was a six month trek. To be honest, my regret is that I didn't 'connect' enough with people. As is my nature, I stayed on the periphery, an observer, not one who participated or engaged. I got invited to a music festival in Ireland but I declined, because it was out of my comfort zone of catching my scheduled train, and getting back to my hotel room. My hotel rooms over the years have been my home, my lair, my sanctuary, even if it was sometimes just a 'room'....
Oh, there were times when I linked up with fellow travellers for a few days, and I did meet some wonderful and interesting people, from all countries.
So in '85, my passport was still valid, and I had some money saved, so I thought it would be fun to go back, or at least go back to London....next to San Francisco or New York, one of my favorite cities in the world....only this time, it wouldn't a long extended trip through Europe, this would be only a short trip, maybe 2 or 3 weeks...and if there was time, Paris too.
I had worked with a girl named Patty at North Star Computers in San Leandro, CA back in '83 and '84, and we became good friends...
She said, "ohh! you should go and visit my aunt Ada! she lives in Dunfermline, Scotland, near Edinburgh!"
So off I had went....
This time, I considered myself a seasoned traveler...at least, when I landed in London I wouldn't be some greenhorn, I would know what to do, and which trains to catch. I went to the same hotel even, on Old Brampton Road, and the same guy was there. He was from India, there's a huge population of Indians there in London...
"I stayed here three years ago!"
"Did you? Splendid!" he didn't remember me at all.
So, I decided to go up to Scotland, about a 4-5 hour train ride to Edinburgh. I got there about 5 PM and then I would go visit 'Aunt Ada' the next day. Dunfermline is about 90 minutes away, across the huge Firth of Forth, a grand sea inlet.
The next day I arrived about noon in Dunfermline at the small train station...One thing I did alot there was walk, which I don't mind, I love walking....I had her address, but no phone number, so I figured I'd walk to her house, and, if she wasn't home at least I'd leave a note. In my shyness I secretly hoped she wasn't home.
Her house was one of those typical brick rowhouses. I walked up and knocked...An old lady answered...
"Hello! my name is Dan, I'm a friend of Patty's visiting from America..."
"Oh yes! I knew you were comin'!...come in! come in!"
So I went in and she just chatted away...."would you like some tea?"
"would you like a tart?"
I noticed a calender on her wall with the Golden Gate Bridge, and immediately the connection with half a world away became very local as she also showed me pictures of Patty's sister's wedding. She was a very sweet and talkative old lady, at 72...full of energy and she seemed delighted to have me as a visitor.
I had originally planned to visit for just an hour or so.
"I do need to go to town for a wee bit, will you walk with me?"
"Oh yes, of course!"
So off we went, it became a tour of the entire town. She did her shopping, we visited the ruins of the old catherdal, the Andrew Carnegie Museum, all the while she chatted and I listened. And I was sure to ask questions...especially historical questions, like about the the Clans of Scotland, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Hadrian's Wall, etc...
"ohhh, well don't know too much aboot that...there are stones here and there..."
She talked a lot about her family, her late husband, though sometimes her thick accent was a little hard to understand.
"He's roon throon the geote, like wooond!"
"umm, he ran...I'm sorry, like....?"
"like woooond!"
"like wind? oh! he was a runner!"
"oh yehhh!"
That's when I realized I was being ignorant in my asking about such esoteric things.....It would be like someone asking if they knew about Cowbows and Indians here in the States...to other than a historian, it means nothing other than just legends and stories. And yet, this Island is filled with a ton of history.
And then we visited her neighbor Bob...as she chatted away, Bob gave that hand motion to me, indicating 'yak yak yak' which I found amusing...
It was getting near 5 PM, and I mentioned that I'd need to be catching my train back to Edinburgh at 6:30....
"oh! well let's go eat then!"
We went to a little fish and chip shop in town, and I must say, it was delicious...
But as it was getting close to 6:30, she had Bob drop us off at her daughter's house. It was then that I realized that they had been out of touch for awhile, because the two grandaughters ran and embraced her, like they hadn't seen her in ages.
At first they seemed uncomfortable, especially the husband, like they didn't get along, he said nothing to Ada....but I think I was the 'Excuse' for her to come over....to bring an American, who they don't see much of, in small towns up there...and, always wanting to be a good ambassador, I chatted with them in a most friendy way. I could see they were preparing dinner, and the mom graciously offered to have us, much to the dad's discomfort...but I totally sensed it, as anyone would....I said, "No, thank you but I really need to catch that train!"
So Ada, her daughter, grandaughter and me all got in the car to give me a ride to the station, not too far away so their dinner wasn't too ruined...the dad seemed relieved anyway...
It was at this time that I felt an important need to communicate...just Talk!...(just Talk Dan, just start talking...say anything! everyone else does, just talk!) I know I'm a quiet person, but I thought it would be good for them to at least hear a foriegn accent at length. As foreign as their Scottish accents sounded to me...I knew I sounded just as foreign to them. And sure enough, they asked questions about the States and all that.
It had to take until that ride....but to be fair, this was the only time I had a stage.
As for Aunt Ada, we exchanged postcards for a couple of years, but then it tapered off...
I think she was lonely then, and my visit was something different. I'd like to think she spent more time with her family after that...I haven't spoken to Patty in years either...I should look her up and ask about aunt Ada, though she'd be 93 now...I wouldn't put it past her to still be alive and kickin'. She was that way.