Clara's Stories: Remembering

It is 1994. I’m 80 years old. I’ve slowed down and have time to look through my old scrapbooks and photo albums and the piles of stories I wrote. Some stories were published. Some were not.

I asked my husband Rolland Metzger to move the files and boxes filled with my writing into the dining room and to pull down the scrapbooks and photo albums from the closet shelf. They’re on the floor and on the dining room table -- no room for dinner but who cares? I was never much of a cook; the best I can do most nights for Rolland and me is to heat up a can of spaghetti and meat sauce or a can of soup or throw together some sandwiches. And thankfully he is OK eating my meager offerings at our small kitchen table.

The first thing I find is my Theodore Roosevelt High School graduation yearbook from 1932. When I  look at my graduation photo, I remember . . .

My first name was Clara in the yearbook, and also my few high school activities (Civics Club, Spanish Club, and G.A.A.) were listed, as well as the college I planned to attend, the University of Illinois. And in the yearbook by my photo was an inscription I wrote, which reads: "Luck success & what not to All --  Clara Le Brint Topsy,"  My nickname in high school was “Topsy,” given to me by friends because my hair usually curled every which way. 

I never went to the University of Illinois (in Champaign/Urbana); it was a pipe dream. Instead after high school, I went to Crane Junior College, sadly only for one year. Around the same time, I changed my name from Clara to Claire which seemed to me more American, more grown up. However, today thinking about my birth name Clara, I remember two romantic encounters I had with very different guys when I was in my late teens and twenties. They both called me Clara; they considered it (and they  considered me) romantic, fanciful and fascinating. And at the time I most certainly was!

Rolland and I live in Dixon, Illinois. But Rol has a home in Chicago and we used to visit there regularly. Not so much these days. I used to be busy working, writing and getting some stories published, volunteering, helping friends, meeting new people, and traveling to Chicago and other far-off places. But I’m not doing that anymore. I’m old and more tired these days then I used to be. These days, I don’t have much to do except visit with friends at the Dixon Senior Center or with Rolland when he’s at home. Rol is eight years my junior and still out and about with activities, hobbies, and paid work as a part-time accountant and tax-preparer.

So I sit at my dining room table picking up one thing and putting it down and picking up the next thing. Nothing is in order but I find many treasures, including a three-page handwritten biography written in 1991 by a Dixon friend, titled The Life of Claire Metzger. She asked me lots of questions about my life and wrote this story, as a way of honoring our friendship. Right away, two little white lies jump out at me – the year of my birth and my age when I met Rolland. Here’s what she wrote. 

The world was blessed on April 5, 1933. Claire Metzger, formerly Claire LeBrint, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

 …When Claire was 34, she met her husband-to-be Rolland Metzger at a Jewish Temple. They didn’t mean to meet; actually, Claire was there to meet another boy to watch a play, but she was stood up and Rolland came up to her and asked if she wanted any coffee, and they both stayed for the play. After the play, Rolland asked Claire if he could walk her home because they had found out that they actually lived on the same street and she accepted. So every time Rolland came into town they would see each other.

My dear friend and biographer insisted that my life story start with my birth date including the year, which I told her was 1933, even though I was born in 1914. She also insisted that we include my age when I met Rolland. I fudged that one too. We met when I was 46, not 34! I never told anyone in Dixon my true age; I told them I felt “ageless.” My Dixon friends and admirers thought I was younger than my real age, so there was no harm done.

Whew, I’m glad the truth is finally out. I’m an old lady now so what do I care if you know my exact age. To keep it straight in my mind and help you, dear reader, know the significant dates in my life, here they are:

 April 5, 1914: I was born on the West side of Chicago.

 June 14 1922: Rolland Metzger was born.

 Winter 1959: Rolland and I met at a Jewish Singles event in Chicago.

 March 25, 1967 Rolland and I married. I was 53 and my young bridegroom was almost 45 years old.

Starting a few years after we met, Rol repeatedly asked me to marry him and I put him off. I had been single for a long time and had pretty much given up on marriage. Of the Jewish men I met, either I rejected them or they rejected me. When Rolland came along, being indecisive by nature and having made a nice life for myself as a confirmed spinster, I couldn’t make up my mind about marrying him.   Finally, in 1967, I decided “yes.” He was too nice a guy to let go. But I was plenty nervous, and ten days before we married, I shared some of my worries with him in a note that I discovered in my piles and files.

 

In case you can't read my handwriting, the note says: "Please never ask me to make a decision late in the eve -- or night -- It wearies me, and invariably I feel pressed and pressured. Probably you do too? So I beg you -- in all things don't set deadlines or rushes lest good judgement gives way to exasperation and error."

After we married, I never had to “make a decision late in the eve,” but sometimes, especially when we were planning trips (for tax conferences or to visit family out of town), he did “set up deadlines” but his good judgement ensured there were few insurmountable errors. Also after we married, with my dear husband's love and encouragement, I became a professional writer.

Claire LeBrint Metzger, of blessed memory, is Betsy Fuchs' aunt. For more Clara stories, you can purchase the book: Twists and Turns There Once Was a Dream, an imagined memoir based on the life of Betsy's Aunt Claire.

Paperback and Kindle versions are available from Amazon.com, or you can purchase the book directly from Betsy by emailing her at  betsywfuchs@gmail.com    

COST: Paperback  $10.00       KINDLE $3.99