372
JONATHAN STRONG
the anniversary, secondly it was the day he finished the Ninth
Symphony, thirdly it was Louis's first visit, and fourthly it was
the first time Louis and I had met. That last thing was a little
awkward. I felt funny because it is hard to be told you are going to
be
great friends with someone, but I did not mind because Louis
is very nice. He has absolutely black hair, so he must be from Mrs.
Supperburger's side which is not German and which would explain
the last name I did not remember. He is about my size, medium,
and has just as long hair coming down to his eyebrows. The funny
thing is that while I have dark brown eyes, which is strange for a
blond kid, he has shiny blue eyes, which is what I ought to have and
he ought to have mine. Anyway, they look nice, and I was also glad
he was not wearing the sort of things college kids usually wear, like
Madras, but just a regular colored shirt with a T-shirt and jeans,
except his were white jeans instead of blue. After Supperburger
caused an awkward moment with his fourth reason, he quickly added
that there was a fifth reason to make this day special but that was
a secret. So we all wondered about that, looking forward to some
surprise, and then I asked Louis if they ever call him Louie and
he said no, so I said I would and told him he could call me Rick
for short. I have always wanted to do that. The bad thing is that
when Matty was serving lamb chops she said, "Pony, do you want
two?" because she hears the kids calling me Pony when she waits
for her bus outside the Doughnut Shop. So then Louie thought that
was funny. In fact it was the only time he really relaxed, and he
started calling me Pony. I think the champagne has calmed Mrs.
Supperburger down. She had three glasses, which is more than the
rest of us put together. She talked a lot during the meal, in a relaxed
and pleasant way, telling us how she and Supperburger had met at
the beginning of the summer in 1941 at a beach on the Cape.
He was just out of college, where he had studied art it turns
out and not composing, and he had a little cottage on the beach
because he had decided to try to write music. That was when
he started the Symphonic Suite I heard. She said they had played
it in honor of their twenty-fifth anniversary.
It
sounds as though
she had a beautiful time on the beach that summer, and they had
decided to get married in the fall. She had to spend the month of
August with her family on some cruise, and when she came back
