The lonely lady of San Clemente
The lonely lady of San Clemente
副标题: The story of Pat Nixon
ISBN: 9780690016888
出版社: Crowell
出版年: 1978
定价: USD 9.95
装帧: Unknown Binding
内容简介
1
Behind the Walls
ONE DAY
In mid-1978??? nearly four years after she left the White House???
one day was much like another for her.
She awakens before seven in the darkened bedroom of her San
Clemente home. When the drapes are parted??? the Pacific Ocean
appears as though through gauze in the July morning haze; by ten
or eleven??? a commanding view of the coastline will stand out bril-
liantly as far as Dana Point??? eight miles to the north.
In twenty minutes she is at breakfast??? brought by Fina Sanchez.
Fina and her husband Manolo have been cook??? valet??? and maid for
the Nixons for more than ten years. There are no other servants in
the U-shaped house. Breakfast is always light: fresh fruit or fruit
juice??? toast and coffee. It has not changed in decades??? nor has the
time she rises??? but now there is a difference.
She eats slowly??? using her left hand instead of the customary
right. The physical therapist has instructed her to use the hand???
especially the fingers??? as much and as often as possible??? to
strengthen the muscles affected by the stroke she suffered in July
of 1976. The stroke has partially paralyzed her left side??? slightly
affected her speech??? which is still somewhat slurred??? and brought
on a painful arthritic condition.
Her hours are precisely planned. After a lifetime of tightly or-