Authentic Edith

"Bismarck, there's no one outside! You're misunderhearing things!"

At dinner in a restaurant, Tom is flicking at Edith's arm with a little rubbery hand she got out of a 25-cent toy machine. "Daddy, that is not appropriate."

In a department store I point Edith toward a comforter, the same one that's on her bed. "I was a bit shocked to see my bed in there," she confides later.

On a walk in the rain with both Alice and Bismarck in tow, we spot an armchair someone has put out at the curb at the other end of the block. "Overwhelming or no, let's go check it out," resolves Edith.

"Look at our peonies!" cries Edith.
"Yes, they're starting to shed, aren't they?" say I.
"Or wilt would be a better word," suggests Edith.