Bishop typed her next letter to Grace just over two weeks
later, 8 June 1960. This letter was written in Rio,
where Bishop had just arrived to tend to various matters, including “the
dentist again.” Upon her arrival, “night before last,” she was surprised to
find “a note from Elizabeth [Ross Naudin],” who was already in Brazil,
arriving a few weeks sooner than expected. Bishop told Grace that it was only
“just luck” that she got her cousin’s letter because, “I NEVER use this address
— that’s why I sent both you and Mary my telephone numbers and said for her [Elizabeth] to be sure to
call me up, or use the Petrópolis mail box.” Bishop noted that Elizabeth, Ray
and their daughters were “just up the street, at the Copacabana Hotel and has
been here two weeks already.” Elizabeth Naudin had written to Bishop before
they left New York
to “say they were coming sooner than expected,” but that letter “never did
reach me.” So, not the best start to getting acquainted.
Even before all this explanation, Bishop launched her letter
with the news that mattered most to her: “Elizabeth
tells me that you haven’t been at all well.” If you recall, Grace had spent
some considerable time with her sister Mary in Montréal, after Mary’s husband
died. But at this point, Elizabeth
reported to Bishop that “she thinks you are staying with Phyllis now.” Bishop
was deeply concerned about her aunt, hoping that “you’ve been to the doctor and
had the cardiogram made and everything.” She urged her aunt to write, “please
tell me — and how the leg is, too.”
Then Bishop offered an account of visiting her cousin,
probably for the first time: “I went to see her yesterday — both she and the
babies have had a touch of the flu.” Bishop assured Grace that in spite of
that, they “seemed to be all right.” Her first observation was about the
children, “They are very cute, aren’t they — particularly Suzanne.” She had
also met Ray Naudin, briefly: “nice-looking, isn’t he, and seems very bright.”
The next big task for the Naudins was finding an apartment,
which Bishop said might prove difficult. She had already “asked a couple of
friends of mine who are in the real estate business.” She then confirmed what
Grace already knew, “they seem to have plenty of money and that’s always a
help!” Ray Naudin worked for the Otis elevator company.
Then Bishop finally got around to assessing her cousin, who
“looks so much like Mary, doesn’t she — at least the upper part of her face
does,” concluding “she just missed being a real beauty.”
Bishop told her aunt that she would “try to get in again
before we go back, today or tomorrow.” And noted that she and Lota had invited
“them to come up for a day with us soon.” Ever practical, Bishop observed that
it was “a pity they didn’t bring their car.” Having moved there to live for
some time meant “Ray had the right to being one.” Expensive as that might have
been, Bishop observed that cars “cost 3 or four times as much here as at
home.”
As mentioned before, Ray was a Brazilian, but he had been
living in the US
for some time. Bishop reported Ray’s astonishment of the changes to Rio during “the 13 years he’s been away,” so much so
“that he had to buy a map of the city to find how way around!”
Even though the bulk of the Naudins’ possessions had not
arrived, her cousin’s arrival had brought some gifts from Grace for Bishop and
Lota: “Thank you so much for the ‘Export A’ cigarettes — I am smoking one right
now.” Bishop excitedly wrote, “E says there are more goodies coming — wonderful.”
With all of this taken care of, Bishop offered an update about
Aunt Florence, who if you remember, had a “cracked leg.” Bishop reported that
the injury was “getting better very fast — she was already walking around in a
‘walker’.” More significantly, the cousins on that side had “found a Rest Home
for her, not very expensive, considering.” Concluding, “I think it all to the
good, really — she shouldn’t be living alone.” She had heard this news from her
cousin Kay Sargent who had written: “keep your fingers crossed.” The caution
being that she might not “stay put” and might “fight with everyone! Poor old
thing.”
As this short letter began to wind down, Bishop returned to
Grace’s health: “I do hope you are feeling better and than you have good
medical care, etc.” And urged her to write again, “let me hear from you.” She
worried that Grace had “over-done [things] at Mary’s” Then the first notice of
the weather, “It has been very cold, for here.” But the stalwart Canadian
Elizabeth Naudin and her two little daughters already “had been in swimming.”
Quickly signing off, Bishop noted that she had “hundreds of things to do while
in the city,” but didn’t forget to say “Remember me to Phyllis and Ernie.” With
her usual “much love,” she scribbled her name at the bottom of this one-pager.
Bishop’s next extant letter was written in early July. It
will comprise the next post.
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