Page 172 - The Letter By Ann Newhouse

like sisters and love having sleepovers together. Once a month Shalma comes for the weekend, it gives Penny some time to herself. Lilli refers to Penny as grandma Penny. We talked about the future, agreed that if they wanted to Lilli and Shalma could eventually move into our cottage when the time came. They would be great housemates, we agreed. I still worried for Shalma though, Penny was amazing with her, but she never got to know her mother and her father chose someone else over her. I worried that it would affect her in the future, but no one talked about that, so neither did I.
Shalma’s grandmother in Bahrain had asked Paul to bring her granddaughter to see her before she met her maker. He was dragging his heels on the matter. Shalma had been very enthusiastic about going to meet her mother’s family but knew that it would be up to her father.
Sherry and Paul were still very much in love, but neither was interested in marriage. Penny had figured there wouldn’t be any more grandchildren for her and although this made her sad in one way she was grateful she had Shlama.
As for Rex and I it just hadn’t happened yet, I would love to have one more, for Lilli to have a brother or sister something Rex and I missed out on. But I felt that I had very little time left on the clock when I look in the mirror and see my long beautiful curls replaced by a salt and pepper bob and too many lines around my face. Rex says they enhance my beauty and calls them lines of love. He still makes me laugh and always makes me feel wonderful. I still teach my art class and continue to sell my paintings but have also taken up writing and knitting. Rex still enjoys chess and has furthered his photographic hobby by doing wedding photos. Lilli took an avid interest in photography too and accompanies Rex on his photo shoots whenever she can.