For the love of Strangers

The Outwater’s lived in a nine room apartment on West End Avenue in Manhattan. This may seem excessive for Esther, her son Neil, a grand piano, a cello and an inherited library, but they quite often hosted guest boarders. The rooms were often occupied by foreign and American students applying for grants or entry into nearby universities and sometimes young musicians in New York auditioning or for competitions. Mrs. Outwater had memberships in various charities and had offered them the use of the rooms.

Neil Outwater, in the midst of his tenth year and about a year and a half away from entering high school had begged his mother to allow him to attend a public version where most of his friends would be going and not a private school. It was out of the question when it was first made the plea, but Esther reconsidered the choice. Her son was affable, with a persistent curiosity, he was well focused; an avid reader and certainly his musical aptitude indicated that he would do well in any school. She was home schooling him, but had come to realized it was probably the right time to put him into a structured social environment. The one in which he had been raised was focused only on him with a world consisting mainly of those nine rooms and his mother. She was fully aware of the protective bubble in which she had knowingly raised him.

It was that assessment which made her decided to transfer her role as teacher into the hands of a male tutor until her son entered high school. It had to be someone from a less privileged environment. She was suspicious of private educational institutes, having attended them herself, and she thought she could have a better overview with Public School teachers. A good friend, a Columbia University Profe...

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...s bright. The boy having already confided with him was a positive sign, and after all he, one of four children, an older sister and a younger brother and sister, came from an environment that over prepared him for this household of one child.

He also took away from that extensive discussion with Esther that she would not want Neil to be a snob and that he was to bring her son in contact with real struggling people that his present environment evades. He must believe that those that are not successful deserve respect and or compassion.

On their way back to his mother Neil pointed out his room on the other side of the hall, but didn't invite him in. “Probably just as messy as mine,” he thought as they walked back to Esther in the library. Mrs. Outwater said she would send her son’s curriculum and schedules to him, so that it would be a smooth transition. *****