Sunday In Santa Barbara

I got to the transit center and was waiting for the 10:04 bus to Santa Barbara, when Jim called (that's Jim Downes, Betty's old boyfriend, not Jim C.).  Although I had told him I'd be there at 11:30, he was already in Santa Barbara and how would he get to Villa Alamar? I told him I had no idea, but it's off State Street and to use his GPS. As promised, I was there at 11:30 and Carolyn was, too. We walked in and were told yes, a man had been in to see Betty, but he had left. 

Left? I immediately called him and he said he had left because Betty was sitting in a chair, but she was asleep. Now, Jim had driven from Thousand Palms, near Palm Springs, a distance of two hundred and fifteen miles, and had simply come in, seen Betty asleep, then left. I asked him to come back--he hadn't gotten far--and reminded him that he had called me out of the blue and asked me to meet him there. He agreed to come back and he did. 

In the meantime, Betty, Carolyn, and I sat in the atrium and I put my sunglasses on the table. Betty picked them up and put them on and I thought she looked so cute--and normal--in them, so I took her picture:

We were served lunch outside--so pleasant--and took a few more pictures:

After we had lunch, we chatted for a bit, then Jim told us his son had died of COVID "six or seven months ago." I was so shocked; in our several conversations, he hadn't mentioned that at all. I knew his wife had died five years ago, but not his son. He does have two daughters and some grandchildren. 

Jim left, and we stayed 45 or so longer. Carolyn took this picture in of us in Betty's room:

Finally said goodbye and Carolyn invited me over for a glass of wine, which I happily accepted. After chatting with her and her daughter, Claire, for a bit, I was driven to the Santa Barbara Library--there's a bus stop there--and I rode back to Ventura. A full day, but a pretty good one, all told. The long sadness of my dear sister's decline is simply something that needs to be accepted, and I do--but never, never with grace.