Dillon Beach, Part II

The second part of this story begins with my trip from Davis to Sausalito, where my daughter Eva lives.  My live-in helper and friend, Parisa drove me there. Eva drove me to our destination. Dillon Beach has become very expensive; prime real estate. So unlike the olden days when we first came here.

We drove through Petaluma as we used to do. I recognized the “historic downtown,” the bank, the little delicatessen where Andrzej and I used to shop in the olden days when our children were young. Eva and I remembered having lunch with Andrzej in a restaurant by the river the last time we made this trip with him. I remembered the tawny, gently rolling hills, the huge eucalyptus groves, the wide-open spaces, a beautiful, familiar landscape.

We arrived in the late afternoon. One of my granddaughters, Alicia soon joined us. She is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, like her mother, working with inmates in Alameda County. She is slim with long, blondish hair, very bright, pretty and very talkative.

We rented this house to commemorate Andrzej’s birthday on August 16, and to cast some of his ashes into the ocean. Some of his ashes have been buried in our family plot in Hackensack, NJ, and others will be scattered around various Buddhist temples by our daughter Eva, who is a devout Buddhist. Andrzej specified that he did not want a religious burial. I had a wonderful dream the night before we cast the ashes.  A good omen. I dreamt I saw Andrzej’s face very clearly. He was smiling at me. He said, in his deep manly voice, “I love you more now than I ever did.” That made me very happy.

The living room of our rental house looked out onto the sea with a whole wall of full-length windows. It is a breathtaking view. There was an open kitchen with bar stools, where we had breakfast and a long, impressive table for dinners. There was a large swivel-chair looking out on the spectacular view. One evening I sat in the chair and saw a fiery sun about to drop into the sea. An unforgettable sight.

In the basement where our granddaughters slept, the view was even more spectacular.  The ocean seemed to be right there, in the room, with the rocky beach below. I did yoga every morning down there. At 96, with stiff legs, it isn’t easy. 

Agnieszka and Joseph came on the evening of the first day. They are retired therapists, who have spent the last 10 years traveling all over the world, working for the Army, dealing with post traumatic stress disorder among veterans. They have had many adventures and difficult situations. I am very proud of them, and of all the other members of my little family.

The following day the other grandchild appeared, Luiza Silva. She teaches yoga and has developed her own business which she calls Corporate Wellness. She is slim, pretty, very strong, fearless, and very independent. She has a mass of kinky-curly black hair. She has her father’s quiet but energetic way of dealing with life. 

Our son Jan flew in from LA on Saturday night. His family were unable to join him. He has developed his own real estate business in LA, and has been renting a beautiful house near the ocean in Santa Barbara and has made an offer on a house nearby. He is understated, with great integrity.

Eva, who organized this trip, is a filmmaker, professional film editor and Buddhist teacher and practitioner. She is always upbeat and full of good ideas.

One of my happiest memories is our walk around the village on Saturday. Eva, Alicia and I roamed around, rediscovering houses where we stayed when the children were young. I was delighted to see that our “Goblin House” is still there, in good condition. I got very excited when we came upon one house which I remembered distinctly; a brown corner house on the top street. It was there that Eva made her pictures when she was six years old, where Andrzej baked his bread without a rolling pin, when Jan was still in diapers.

We met Agnieszka, Joseph and Luiza at the grocery store which used to be called “Lawson’s.” There is now a little restaurant beside it. We ate french fries and huge ice cream cones.

The main event for which we had arranged this get-together took place on Sunday, a chilly, overcast day. We had a late lunch, sitting at a long table outdoors in Tomales, which consists of a hotel/restaurant and a closed-up grocery store. The sun came out while we were eating. I had baked oysters with bacon bits, and beer. We all shared the french fries. It was lots of fun.

Then around 5:00 p.m. we drove to the beach and performed a very simplified “casting ceremony,” as Andrzej would have liked it to be. Eva and I cast some of his ashes in the ocean while the others stood around nearby. I wore his sparkly purple birthday hat, which he wore at several of his birthday parties at Fazulo Restaurant in Davis. It was a gift from Agnieszka and Joseph, who found it on a park bench! I was crying a little as I said, “Gelobt sei du, Marie,” (Praise be to Mary) as my Granny used to say, even though she was not at all religious. I said I want my ashes to be cast in that same place, when the time comes.

When we came home, we drank a toast to Andrzej and played Triple Solitaire, which was pretty wild. I couldn’t keep up with Eva and Alicia, who was just learning how to play. 

People took lots of walks during our stay there, on the beach and in the hills, before breakfast, before dinner and during the day. Since I have rheumatic legs at 96, I couldn’t join them on their hikes, so I listened to gypsy music on my CD player while they were gone. Just before we left on Monday Jan took me for a short walk near the house. He offered me his strong arm to lean on. That meant a lot since I see him so seldom.

All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend. A fitting celebration of Andrzej’s birthday, life and death.