My Work

The Winos

The first day my wife and I entered the Tiffany Lounge we were accosted by three ebullient women holding court at the round table closest to the door. They introduced themselves as “The Winos.” They urged us to join them for wine and for dinner. We soon counted them among our best friends at The Fountains.

The tallest was Carolyn Ambuter. When she learned we had lived near Boston for many years she told us she had grown up in Boston, but had “fled” (her word) to New York City as soon as she was able. When pianist Mike Markaverich used to perform at The Fountains, Carolyn could always be found leaning on the piano with her wine glass at hand. It was easy to imagine a younger Carolyn in a New York club in the same pose with a cigarette dangling from her fingers. Carolyn was an artist, and when we met her she was creating beautiful collages from her collection of fabrics and findings. Carolyn described herself as a pescetarian - a person who does not eat meat but does eat fish. She had edamame every day they were on the dining room menu and was overjoyed to find I liked them too, since she constantly worried they would be discontinued (and now they have been). She always asked for olive oil for her salad, and said she kept two bottles in her apartment – one in the kitchen for her food and one in the bathroom for her skin. Carolyn is gone now; at age 90 she moved to Rumania to be with her daughter, and died there after a fall.

Lola Laubheim was the second of The Winos. Lola was a small feisty woman who had driven a two and a half ton truck as a recruiter during World War Two. She liked to sing bawdy songs; we both knew some of the same ones. But Lola was also extremely interested in literature. She was a founder of the James Joyce Society of Sarasota. At The Fountains she organized and led a Shakespeare reading group, and also a writing group which I joined. In the writing group she read us a memoir which described how she met her husband during the War. They were both residents at a boarding house for military personnel based in the US. Lola was working in the kitchen when a young man practicing archery in the back yard shot an arrow through the kitchen window. That was her introduction to the man she married. Lola is also gone now; she died at The Fountains after a brief illness.

The third Wino was Esther Fishman. Esther grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire and was a real New Hampshire booster. She was delighted to learn that Kathy and I had a summer house in New Hampshire and were familiar with many of the places she remembered. Esther was the daughter of Manchester's only Jewish doctor, who sent her to Catholic school because it offered the best education in the city. Esther always talked with amusement about learning Catholic rituals. Esther was very small in stature but she had an enormous heart. She did everything she could think of to make everyone she met happy. She invited anyone who was entering the dining room alone to join her, and she sent cards and small gifts to anyone who was sick or having a tough time. Our grandchildren came to The Fountains for a short visit last November, when they were 22 months old, and we had a party in the Tiffany Lounge for everyone to meet them. The kids were more than a little nervous and shy with so many adults surrounding them, but when one of them found Esther he lost all his shyness and spent the rest of the time with her. It was marvelous to see them together! Two weeks ago Esther died after a fall and a short but painful hospital stay.

The Winos are greatly missed!

Written as an assignment for the writers' group at The Fountains in July 2016.