Should I Be Offended?

I exchanged e-mails with the Professor on Sunday. He told me he was just back from a week of meetings in D.C., my favorite city. He told me he had found the perfect gift for me. He also mentioned he had seen the Edward Hopper exhibit, which I will see on November 24. He knows of my love of and connection with the Hopper painting "Hodgkin's House", which is the home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where my birthgrandmother grew up.



So of course, putting all those facts together, I figured the Professor had gotten me something — a poster, a postcard, any little thing containing that image — from the National Gallery to sate my hunger for all-things-Hodgkin's-House.

Last night I noticed a package in the mailbox. When I opened it and unwrapped the item inside, it was a lovely Asian fan in a beautiful silk brocade case. This gift is, no doubt, directly related to my frequent hot flashes. I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or amused. I choose amused.