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Chapter 4 – Philadelphia – Day 3
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The day was sunny and warm for an October day. It was perfect for Bette and Tina as they headed for Independence Hall first. The lines were long at the Liberty Bell, so they decided to skip that and go directly to the President’s Home. The home had been torn down many years ago, but the floor plan had been somewhat restored and was an open-air walk through the home. Much of the information was about the slaves who performed services for the home as they were true residents of the home. Presidents Washington and Adams used this home as a temporary residence while tending to the business of the government. Both preferred their homes – Washington at Mount Vernon in Virginia and Adams at Peace Field in Quincy, Massachusetts.
From there, Bette and Tina went to the African American Museum of Philadelphia. They enjoyed the exhibits, and displays and the information on the role of slaves and freedmen during the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and post-Civil War America. Bette told Tina that she wanted to make a donation to the Museum to aid in its continued existence and its mission to educate the public in African American history.
From there they went to the Benjamin Franklin Museum. They saw the many inventions that Benjamin Franklin was credited with including a musical instrument of various size goblets which were to be filled with water and then played by wetting the tip of a finger and rubbing the rim of the glass. A distinct tone or note would be emitted and tune were played with the sequences of the notes. Bette laughed in that this was something she did every holiday season which drove her father bonkers. However, she would use only one glass.
While at the Benjamin Franklin Museum, there was a gift shop which sold books and souvenirs to the tourist. Bette’s eye caught a book which she pointed out to Tina. The name of the book was “Fart Proudly” by Benjamin Franklin with a subtitle of “Everything about Benjamin Franklin that they didn’t teach you in school.” Then there was an “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”. Bette and Tina decided to give these as souvenir gifts to their friends, so they got with the clerk and ordered a half dozen of each book and asked that they be shipped to Santa Monica. This was not the customary practice of this particular shop, but when Bette offered to pay for shipping the clerk smiled and took the order, Bette’s credit card information and her email address to send the notification of charges and shipping notification.
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Hi Martha, what an amazing trip to Philadelphia. There was so much information regarding Melvin and what they learnt if him and his life. Poor Bette, I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to explain this all to Mary and her sister as it has obviously hit her hearing all this. Tina is such a tower of strength to her, I love how they are so besotted with each other and hold each other up! I love hearing about their plans for Angie and Daniel, they are so attentive to their children and want only the best for them. The way they talk through everything with them making sure they understand .
Finally the love they have for each other, is incredibly. They way they do everything for each other, they just want to be together, all the time. Enjoying being out shopping, visiting museums, enjoying meals or just cuddling up on the sofa. They are, as you said, the other half of each other !
Loving this so much, will continue on….o hope you are also continuing on, with this story….
Take care and Thankyou, for this amazing piece of writing!
Thanks… I have always thought that the relationship between Bette and her father was the most important relationship of her life prior to Tina. I could see that she struggled to love and admire the man who always seemed to believe she never quite measured up to his standards. But in my mind, I always knew that Melvin loved his children with all of his heart. He just didn’t have the ability to show this to them. His thought was to just leave them all his worldly possessions and they would know. But the truth is that until Bette talked to Gabriel Scott and to Harriett Myers, she would never know how much Melvin loved Bette, Kit, Mary, Paris and even Tina.
When Tina points out that if Melvin had told Bette on his death bed that Mary was alive and that she had another sister, Bette would be in shock. But if he told her that he had known for 15 years or more, Bette might have taken a pillow and smothered him on the spot. The truth was there was never going to be an ideal time to tell Bette or Kit about Mary Southerland. And Bette knows this deep in her heart. She also knows that all of this is a part of the past. A past which is done and dusted. And all the what ifs and if onlys are a waste of energy. Melvin and his relationship with Bette, Kit and Tina is what it was and had its impact on their lives. For Bette and for Tina, it explains so much. It explains why Tina is a part of his will. It explains why the final distribution was 18 years after his death. It explains how he found out about Mary Southerland and her daughter Paris. It explains how Paris was educated in England during her teen years and college years. And it gives another dimension to the personality of Melvin William Porter.
Bette is going to explain most of this to Kit, Paris and Mary in a future chapter. And in their own way, they will reconcile the Melvin they knew to the Melvin to the man they found in Philadelphia.
This for me is the most emotional chapter I have ever written… deep in my soul, I feel the loss Bette feels for the relationship she never had with her father and that is more painful than the fact that she had all those years of loss in not knowing her mother and sister. The reason is because Mary and Paris are still around and there is opportunity to have a good relationship with them. But Melvin is gone and there is no opportunity to mend that relationship with him. Such as life. But as Bette Porter and Tina Kennard always do – they learn from the mistakes including the mistakes of others around them. They have learned a lot from Melvin and much of it is what not to do in life.
Thank you for reading this and commenting…. it is rather gratifying to see that someone sees this story as a gratifying piece of entertainment. There are several more chapters to this Volume and it will continue.