Family in brief [1]
Elizabeth Alexander [2]
Translated by xia23
She cooked well. She cleaned well. She could also bake well. The family knew that. Every noon an appetizing smell lured the eaters up the stairs faster.
The books stood nicely on the shelf. The TV magazines were kept for a while. They lay neatly on the newspaper stands.
Every week two cases of beer and one case of carbonized water came. The children’s shoes were cleaned. The creases of man’s pants were ironed. There was no stain on the shirt’s collar. He was a department manager.
His car was clean and the engine was just well cared for. The man loved that. His wife was proud of the car. One Sundays she deliberately put on her skirt when she sat inside. They drove the car around the residential area. In a place in the woods, for aunts, uncles, birthdays. Numerous times for a folk festival. The neighbors only saw that when they returned. The youngest then brought home a broken balloon.
The wife went shopping every morning. She brought the kids to the corner, from where the way to school, to kindergarten, so to speak, was safe.
She thought it over, let not be persuaded or tempted by posters to buy beyond her shopping bag. She never walked slowly. Perhaps she also walked like that.
The family members’ voices were always loud. The man spoke forcefully. Well dosed out. With optimistic and pessimistic views of life. He could provide the most psychological underline.
He also thought surely of women once more. But the picture of his wife never left his mind. She cooked indeed wonderfully.
He gave her the money. The rent was transferred immediately from the bank. He did not overwork. It was enough. His beer was in the basement. Wine too. He received from a wine estate. Fifty bottles twice in a year. He usually bought it in the discount store. With the car it was an easy, comfortable and cheap shopping experience.
Not all kids went on vacation. The older began to have their own interests. They had to learn languages. Therefore, they went abroad. Besides it was thrifty.
The wife loved the operetta music. The boys collected phonograph records. The girls pasted the stars’ pictures on the wall. The man loved the piano. It was so consistent. At least what he played.
The oil painting of flowers hung on the wall in the living room. And on the large carpet there was a really genuine bridge. She wiped out dust every day. In fact, there was nothing ever lying around there. Not even clothes. Freshly cut flowers stood in the middle of the table most of the time. But one day they were replaced by plastic flowers. And they were pulled out, cleaned with Rei [3] once a month and they bloomed like new. And no meals were ever burnt.
In spite of this, the man could curse loudly. It sounded high on the walls and echoed back. It could hardly be understood by the other residents. But he could do in such a skill, that was the roaring of the words. The man loved that too. In the summer the windows kept open. It was an acoustic film then.
On the balcony the wife watered the geraniums [4] every day. Perhaps they were the same ones every year. They learned so much from the TV. They enjoyed learning from other people. They demonstrated so beautifully.
[1]. Familie in Kürze. p. 26. Mitlesen – Mitteilen. 4th Ed. Rosmarie Thee Morewedge. Heinle Cengage Learning. Australia…United States. 2008
"Familie in Kürze” is from her book “Damengeschichten” published in 1983. Ibid.
[2]. Elizabeth Alexander. Born in 1932. Published poems in 1963. Freelance writer since 1970. Ibid.
[3]. Rei. A brand name of cleaning agent.
https://www.germanshop24.com/non-food/household/detergent-and-softeners/rei-in-der-tube-4.23-fl.oz/
[4]. Geraniums. A garden plant with red, pink or white flowers.
