This post was written in March of 2010, shortly after I began blogging in 2009. I went back to find it yesterday. It came along with many other blog gifts from Bennie. Yesterday was "Bennie's Day" all day long. He reminded me of the richness of my life and how many I love and hold close whether it's across the distance or across the boundaries of the universe. What a special gift...
One of the things I love best about living here is that I get double bells all day long. First, the bells sound at Mont Brun and then they sound across the river in Saujac. Because the Lot is a crescent, the churches are very close together even though they are on opposite sides of the river. I've often thought that I really don't need a clock or a watch as long as I live here. I've got the bells-almost a duet!
I first noticed church bells the five weeks I spent at Wendy's in '98. They were particularly poignant that summer, because my friend Bennie Windstein had sent me a poem called "Bells I've Known Thru the Years" earlier in the year. He had thought of every bell imaginable and put it into his poem. I loved it. He was living out in the country on the northshore of Lake Ponchartrain since he had retired from the New Orleans Police Department. It wasn't far, but we didn't see each other. We did keep in very good touch by phone and through poems and letters. Bennie discovered he had cancer and he died that May of 1998. Every time those church bells rang in Tour de Faure that summer, they were Bennie's Bells. The last stanza in Bennie's poem made me think that he knew what was on the horizon:
"Door bells tell, the arrival of guests, funeral bells, lay us to rest. Bells have long, served us well, think about it, when you hear a bell!"
Every bell I hear is Bennie's Bell. I always marveled at the fact that this man who had been the Commander of Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence wrote some of the sweetest and funniest poetry I'd ever read. He had a poem for you for every occasion, even if it was just a dinner party at your house with friends. I miss Bennie's smile and how he always used to say to me "well, dear heart", but every time those bells ring he's with me. And I know, he's very happy to be here.
You have shots of Saujac above and Mont Brun Below.
Let me ask a friend of mine who may know best. I'll let you know what I find out.
Posted by: Christopher Laney | March 13, 2009 at 06:54 PM
Thanks Christopher-I don't believe that was Bennie's style, but you might be right. I might be able to find his x and two daughters if I tried. I know that there's a contest coming up at Writer's Digest-do you have any other suggestions for me?
Posted by: Laury Bourgeois | March 13, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Very nice story. Did Bennie ever publish his poem? If not, it would be a nice tribute to him to get it submitted somewhere for him and his family.
Posted by: Christopher Laney | March 13, 2009 at 01:11 PM