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Page 2 -
| Fortunately
for Tito, the one person who took care of him every summer was
also the only exception in the family, the only person who wasn't
a historian--Grandma Lea. And she knew a ton about movies. Grandma Lea had made costumes for film and stage--lots of elaborate and detailed clothes, just as they would have appeared in olden times. She had worked for famous directors, met actors, and won awards for her designs. Many of her costumes were stored in the attic of her huge house. And that attic was STRICTLY off limits. Tito had never been invited to play in Grandma Lea's attic. In fact, he was expressly forbidden. Furthermore, he was rarely, if ever, out of Grandma Lea's sight. Tito assumed that she kept a close watch on him because her house was filled with beautiful art and antiques. These were objects that couldn't be replaced if Tito were to thoughtlessly swing a racket, run into a table, or toss a ball and accidentally munch one of these 'teeks', as Grandma Lea called them. Tito had already climbed all the stairs to the attic before he remembered that he didn't have a key. There was a hush as Tito held his breath and then a barely perceptible click as Tito turned the knob and the door swung open freely. Now most attics are dusty, cramped, and dark places filled with old furniture, boxes, and a chest or two. There's no order to where things are placed and you have to be very careful not to trip. You also have to watch your head or you'll bump into the 'A'-shaped ceiling. Sometimes, attics are divided into several tiny rooms off of one skinny hallway. But that wasn't true of Grandma Lea's attic. The room was almost the entire length and width of her house and the ceiling was quite high. Grandma Lea's attic was tidy, brightly lit and exceptionally clean. No one tripped in her attic, unless walking with his eyes shut, because there was plenty of space to walk between rows and rows of neatly hung costumes. Props, things like watches and umbrellas, were carefully placed with costumes from the same time period. More than anything, Grandma Lea's attic reminded Tito of a museum. The swirl of color struck his eye immediately on entering the first row of costumes. Tito walked up and down the rows like the aisles of a grocery store, fingering clothes that were soft and velvety, cool and silky, fine and lacey, coarse and hairy. He thought he recognized some of them from movies he had seen. When he reached the middle of the room, there was a tall mirror in a beautiful old frame next to a large piece of furniture that he knew was called an 'armoire'. "What's that big, wooden box thing with doors, Grandma?" he remembered asking a couple of years ago. They were in a bedroom where Tito was going to stay now that he was old enough to sleep in a 'big person's' bed. The box was tall, taller than the door to the room, and made of shiny wood. It looked like a great place for playing hide and seek. "That's an armoire," she replied, while unpacking his clothes from his suitcase. "An "arm"-What?" "Wharrrr", she replied, folding his socks and putting them into a drawer in a chest. "It's a French word. An armoire is like a closet for hanging clothes." She closed the chest drawer gently and faced him. "When you're able to reach, you can use it. Until then, you must not touch it! It's rather valuable and has some history." Tito rolled his eyes. Anything with 'history' was something he'd just as soon avoid. Here in the attic, he examined this armoire very carefully. It was taller and grander than the one in the bedroom downstairs. Elaborate carvings of figures that looked like angels were perched on the top and sides. Tito decided that he had better not touch this 'teek' or his Grandma might not ever let him back in the attic, even if he was 30 years old! |