I reworked the first paragraph of A TIME FOR GROWING Jill

[jill stockinger]

I shortened the first paragraph a BIT, and tried to show it was just a debt the father carried internally that just needed expatiating in his OWN mind.  See what you think! Jill

A Time for Growing       by Jill Stockinger

 

I was called upon to resolve a debt of honor for my father, Saul Golding, when I was in my late thirties. He had accidentally caused a loss of money for a friend, John McNamara. 

John had not been particularly honest in a business deal with a third party. My father had not known that John had boasted a painting was much older than it really was. When

my father casually mentioned that he knew the artist, the prospective buyer realized the painting was much  newer than she had thought; she ended up offering half of the

original agreed-upon price. Though John still sold her the piece, he had never let go of his feeling that my father had damaged him, financially. It had created a rift between them

that had never healed. Since then, John had married and moved to China, where he and his wife sold art in their gallery. Having heard through friends that John’s health was failing, 

my father decided to secretly expunge this debt he felt he owed, before it was too late to do so. Using my father’s money, I flew to John’s gallery in China and bought a piece for 

four times the asking price without giving any real explanation, outside of exclaiming it was worth so much more. I paid in cash; John had no idea who I was. I overheard him telling

his wife that he thought I liked to flaunt my money and would probably boast to friends about how much I had paid. This purchase, an act of kindness, released the internal feeling

of debt my father had carried all these years. Having allotted myself more time than it took, I found I had two weeks of free time before I was due to fly back home to America.

 

[Nedra Crowe-Evers]

Yes, that's better.

Thanks for sending the updated version. I always wonder if I should, but I don't want to force myself on the group with work we've already done. Other opinions about this?

Well, back to the drawing, that is writing, board.

Nedra

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