Page 40 of Who We Think We Are

“Come in, Rose.”

Rose opens the door. Kate walks in, and Rose closes the door and walks away to eat her lasagna in the lunchroom.

“Hi, Bob! I brought you lunch.”

Bob looks up. “Kate! I didn’t know you were back in town. I um …”

“I got back last week. Don’t worry; I’m not trying to get my job back. I know you’ve got a contractor. I just want to talk to you, and besides, I brought you some of Jake’s lasagna.”

“Well then, by all means, sit down.” Bob smiles.

“I came to apologize. I know I was a shit to you. Thanks for having the patience you had. I would have fired my ass a lot sooner.”

“Maybe, but I feel bad. I just needed the help. But you are missed. You make things run smoothly around here. Will you return to work in the new year?”

Kate pauses, heart racing. She knows the answer she should give, the financially responsible answer.

And maybe she’s being impulsive and irresponsible, but she can’t make herself tell Bob she’ll come back.

It feels like she’d be selling her soul.

She takes the leap. “No, I don’t think so, Bob.

I have a different idea I want to run by you. A fundraiser for Grandma’s Table.”

“Oh boy. It feels like I need to pull out my checkbook. What’s the idea?”

“You know the story of how my great-grandmother Flo and Suze’s grandmother Rachel started Grandma’s Table to help Jewish refugees after the Holocaust?”

“Of course.” Bob takes a big bite of lasagna.

“Well, before the war started, they helped Jewish refugees escape Nazi Germany. Along with others around the world, they saved hundreds of lives. I’ve been reading boxes of letters my great-grandmother left me, documenting those rescues.

I want to go and find as many of those people as I can and interview them.

I don’t know if the final product will be a book or a documentary.

Maybe both. But whatever it is, the profits will go to Grandma’s Table.

When I talked about it with Suze, she made an important point: it’s 2015, and those people are getting old and dying, so the time is now.

“On a personal note, Bob, I want to do something meaningful. Not that mining lithium isn’t meaningful—we all use cell phones—but you know what I mean.”

“You’ll return in a year?”

“No. Maybe two. But honestly, maybe never. I don’t want to make a promise I may not keep.”

Now, it’s Bob’s turn to pause. He sits forward, makes a tent with his hands, and stares at them.

Kate can almost see the wheels turning in his head.

After a few minutes, he lifts his head. “You drive a hard bargain, Kate.

Your family has been part of Canamine for over eighty years, starting with Chas.

While your great-grandmother Flo was helping Jewish refugees, he was helping Canamine mine the resources necessary for war.

Then it was his son, Doug, then Rachel and her husband, Henry, their daughter, Arela, and their son, Herbert, and now you.

Your family has helped Canamine make millions of dollars, including, and perhaps especially, you.

“OK, I’ll hold your job for two years, and Canamine will match whatever funds you raise for the project.”

“Including whatever government funds and contributions through campaigns we raise and what family and friends donate?” asks Kate.

“Yes. Including donations and funding from all sources. I do this because I believe in you and what you’re doing, but let’s be honest; it makes Canamine look good, and we get tax write-offs, too.

Can I call you from time to time to consult?

You could advise me on an ad hoc basis. I’d pay you, of course. ”

“Sure, Bob. That would be great. Thanks. You’ve got a deal. I can’t tell you how much your faith in me means.”

“Let’s not get mushy, Kate. Neither of us is good at that. But for what it’s worth, I’ll always be on Team Kate. Now, can we eat?”

“I’ll nuke our lasagna so we can eat it hot. Jake is teaching Paige and Kelli to cook, so they made this.”

“Tastes great. Good thing you’re not the one teaching them.” They both laugh.

“That would be a short lesson! But lucky for you, I am a master at reheating things.” Kate carries their plates to the microwave.

When Kate gets to her car after leaving Bob’s office, she tries to text Suze, but her hands are shaking. I just quit my job! Jake is going to kill me! This is taking too big of a risk. Should I go back and talk to Bob? No. I am doing this. I have to trust it will work out. Keep breathing!

Kate texts Suze: “Canamine will match whatever funds we raise for the project!”

Kate drives over to see Grandad. With mixed feelings of fear, hope, and budding elation, she feels unfettered and alive, and the ocean looks even bluer, the mountains even greener, and the snowcaps whiter.

When Kate walks into Grandad’s room, he is sitting upright in his bed. When he sees her, he smiles and says, “Katie! What a treat!”

“You look great, Grandad!” Kate kisses him on his forehead.

“What have you brought me?”

“Jake’s lasagna. Do you want some now or for dinner later?”

“Now, of course.” Kate heats up the lasagna and brings it over to him.

“Can you feed me, please, Katie? My hands are so shaky, if I feed myself, most of it will end up on my shirt.”

“I’d be honored.” Kate pulls a chair up to the bed and puts a small amount of lasagna on a spoon.

When she brings the spoon to his mouth, he opens it, waiting for the bite, just like her children did when they were babies, but this is Grandad.

As she feeds him, she feels like this is one of the most intimate moments she has ever had with him.

“Why are you crying, Katie?”

“I didn’t realize I was. I just love you so much, Grandad.”

“And I love you so much, Katie.”

After Grandad has finished the lasagna and Kate has taken the plate to the sink, he says, “Come sit down beside me, Katie. I want to talk to you.”

When she sits down, he takes her hand and holds it.

“While you were away, your dad and I planned Oma’s celebration of life.

We’re keeping it simple, doing what she loved most: having a family dinner and playing some games.

We’ll do it during Chanukah on Saturday, December 12th.

We’ll have to do it at your house because, of course, it must be at GG’s table.

But you are not to do a thing. Doug will bring the food, and Jake and the girls will get your house ready.

Kelli is going to create a slideshow of family pictures.

“Also, Jake or one of the girls came to see me every day, so I know most of what happened on your trip. I want to hear everything, but first, there is something I have to confess.”

“Grandad, you don’t need to …”

“Yes, I do, Katie. I lied to you a few weeks ago when I told you Oma’s baby was dead and to leave it alone, and I feel terrible about that.”

Kate opens her mouth to speak, but Grandad holds up his hand to stop her.

“When I proposed to Oma, she said that before she could say yes, there were a few things I had to know about her. I already knew about her being in the Hitler Youth. She told me there was more. She wasn’t a virgin, and she had a baby in the Lebensborn program, but the baby had died.

I told her I didn’t care about those things.

I loved her and wanted to be with her no matter what.

” Grandad’s eyes have welled up with tears, and in response, Kate’s have, too. She gets them both a tissue.

Grandad continues, “It wasn’t until a few months ago, the day she blurted out that she had been in the Hitler Youth, that she told me the rest of the story.

Later that night, she was coherent for a little while, and she told me that her daughter had lived, but no one knew.

She was so ashamed that she hadn’t been honest with me.

She had wanted to tell me the truth, but she was afraid I couldn’t love someone who had given away her baby.

Of course, I told her I loved her no matter what.

She was the love of my life. I’m glad for her that she was able to get some peace before she died.

But I was worried that people would judge her, even if I didn’t. I’m sorry I lied to you, Katie.”

“Thanks, Grandad.” Kate wipes away his tears and then her own.

“But no apology is necessary. I knew you were lying; I just wasn’t sure about what.

You’d done such an abrupt about-face. You wanted me to find the truth, and then you wanted me to let it be.

It makes sense that you were trying to protect Oma.

Do you want to hear more about Oma’s daughter? ”

“Yes. But not today. As I said, I’ve heard a lot already from Jake and the girls. There’s something I’ve been thinking about that I want to tell you. I hear you got laid off.”

“I did. I spoke to Bob Brown today and …”

Grandad puts his hand up again to stop Kate. “I want to give you money.”

Kate shakes her head no.

“Hear me out, Kate. Let’s be realistic. I’m not going to live much longer. I’m ninety-five, and since my bride died, my will to live isn’t as strong as it used to be. I am leaving you everything. You’re my only grandchild. If I give you money now, then I can enjoy seeing what you do with it.”

“But what about Dad?”

“Oma and I gave your dad the money to buy his house. We told him then that the house was his inheritance. He’s lived mortgage-free for decades, and with the way the housing market has gone in Vancouver, if he sells the house, he’ll make millions.

He’s taken care of. Your mother might not see it that way, but your dad knows.

We talked about it recently, and he agrees with me.

“I don’t have millions to give you, but there’s enough that you won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, at least for a while. I have $200,000 to give you now. And there might be a bit more after I die, but that’s the bulk of it.”

“Grandad, I don’t know what to say.” Kate’s eyes tear up again, and she gives him a big hug.

“Say thank you, and then let’s discuss what you’re going to do next. I know you already have a plan, Katie. You always do.”

“Thank you, Grandad.” Kate wipes the tears from both their eyes again.

“You’re right. I’ve been reading GG’s Holocaust letters, and as a fundraiser for Grandma’s Table, I want to find and interview some of the people she, Rachel, Saul, and Sarah helped.

I spoke to Bob Brown today, and Canamine will match all the funds we raise to cover the cost of the project. So, your money would be doubled.”

“No. I don’t want to donate my money to Grandma’s Table; I want to give it to you.

Give me a minute. Let me think.” He closes his eyes for a few minutes.

Then he opens his eyes and continues. “How about this? $100,000 will go directly to you to invest, and you can donate the other $100,000 to Grandma’s Table to pay you a salary and cover your travel expenses because you’ll be traveling all over the world.

I want you to be able to earn a living. And you’ll get a hell of a tax write-off. ”

“That will double and leave more of the profit for Grandma’s Table,” says Kate, getting excited.

“Because they won’t have to pay for as many of the expenses out of the funds raised.

You’re a genius, Grandad! GG asked me to do something with her letters, and you are helping me do that. I don’t even know how to thank you!”

“Give me another kiss and a hug, and promise you’ll stick around home for a while before you go,” says Grandad.

Kate gives him a kiss and a hug. “You know, Katie, this is a full circle moment for me. You’ll be honoring the work my mom did, honoring her request to do something with her letters, and using her past work to help Grandma’s Table’s future work.

If I can do anything to support that, I can’t think of a better legacy.

Oma and I have always been so proud of you.

I didn’t know it was possible to be even more proud. ”

When Kate gets to her car, she begins texting Suze, but she starts crying. Why am I crying? Because Bob and Grandad have made my dream possible. They believe in me, and my family won’t have to suffer. We’ll have to call Jake’s lasagna Jake’s miracle lasagna from now on.

Kate texts Suze: “The project is a go. Grandad gave money, but there are conditions. I’ll explain more later. Start planning for Berlin!”