I saw them on Sunday, after ten years. We went to Chinatown, Charlotte and Abena did some shopping, then we had dinner in "The House Of Gourmet Seafood". We had ice cream and tea at my place. The kid (who I've seen for the first time, and he's 8 years old) is very cute. I couldn't ask if he was dragging his legs because of a problem similar to Clement's, or if he was just imitating him. Lucia guessed him to be five, so he appears small for his age.
I was horrified to hear about Kwadwo. That brilliant, calm, curious boy I thought would become a superb scientist or a diplomat gave up on his studies after the first semester (he'd won a full scholarship, on top of a dozen other prizes and stipends) and ran away--to join the Army! They hadn't even heard from him for months, they talk occasionally now. Clement and Charlotte are devastated. It isn't even a question of salvaging a career (after all, he's only 19, and even if it turns out to be impossible to get another scholarship, he could find a way to earn a degree), but of saving life. He has to stay in the Army for at least four years, it's practically certain he'll get shipped off to Iraq. I cannot begin to fathom why he did it. I always worried he might rebel against Clement's rule, but I never imagined he might want to run away in the direction of even stricter discipline, even less initiative.
Post je objavljen 23.07.2004. u 15:09 sati.