Vivian: Life in Estonia Ch. 30

Unfortunately, and alas! The cliché, "All good things must come to an end", descended upon our heroine. After fourteen years of an extremely happy common law marriage relationship with Raimond Kruuse, he died suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. He was sixty-seven years of age. Vivian was devastated and heartbroken!

Maia Laaning, who in just a couple of months was going to be entering her third year at the University of Tartu, studying computer science, was likewise devastated. He was for all intents and purposes the de facto father in her life, and she couldn't be more grief stricken had he been her actual natural father. He had been instrumental in encouraging her to learn to play the piano, and thereby providing her with a worthwhile skill to enjoy her leisure times productively. He also encouraged her and was her biggest fan along with her mother in pursuing a possible professional tennis career,

Also mourning Raimond's death were his actual flesh and blood daughters, Maria and Amanda. They were both married by this time. Marie had two children, a boy and a girl and Amanda was the mother of a boy. At least they took comfort that their father had lived long enough to become acquainted with his three grandchildren. Unfortunately, they were cognizant that their young infants would retain virtually no memory of their grandfather.

Even Raimond's legal wife Varvaara Raudsepp, offered condolences to Vivian. Once it became obvious that Raimond and Vivian were in a serious relationship all tension and animosity that had accumulated in conjunction with their ill-fated marriage and had still lingered, had by then completely dissipated. Varvaara had settled down with a permanent significant other, and as her daughters had become adults with separate residences, she allowed her lover at last to move in with her.

Varvaara still had no desire to seek a divorce in order to remarry. She had no ulterior motive. She just felt as her marriage to Raimond had been such a disaster she didn't want to court a similar outcome upon remarriage. In any case, as Raimond and Vivian were recognized as an established couple in the eyes of the public, Varvaara made no objection at the deference given to Vivian as Raimond's de facto widow.

Since Raimond was the Prime Minister of Estonia at the time of his death, Andres Ott, who was the Minister of Justice, became the interim leader of the Centre Party and acting Prime Minister until a new leader and PM would be properly determined and installed. He delegated the task to the appropriate department to arrange for a state funeral and ordered that Vivian would be consulted and be allowed to offer some reasonable input for the funeral arrangements.

Accordingly, Raimond's body lay in state at the Stenbock House, the official seat of the Estonian government, for public viewing as well as a designated time for private viewing by the family and officials of the Estonian government. As Raimond had been a very popular Prime Minister, it seemed like every person residing in the city of Tallinn took the opportunity to pay their last respects, and figuratively saying goodbye in viewing his body. That number was augmented by a significant number of Estonians residing elsewhere, but who took time off to come to Tallinn for the funeral.

On the day of the funeral, the schedule was for his body and casket to be transported from the Stenbock House to St Mary's Cathedral, for funeral services conducted by the Archbishop of Tallinn, and the primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. After the funeral services his body was to be transported for burial at the Metsakalmistu Cemetery, Tallinn's most famous cemetery, in a gorgeous sylvan setting. Metsakalmistu was officially opened in 1939. A host of prominent Estonians have been interred there including Lennart Meri, a former President of Estonia. The airport in Tallin bears his name.

The one demand Vivian insisted on for Raimond's funeral, and wherein she prevailed, was to honor Raimond's peculiar wish that Richard Wagner's 'Siegfreid Funeral Music' be played at his funeral. To carry out this wish, a sufficient number of musicians of the Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester (ERSO) (in English, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra) was cobbled together to play at the Stenbock House just prior to the departure of the body for the funeral services. The orchestra also played the music at the conclusion of the funeral services at the Cathedral, and also at cemetery during the actual lowering of the casket into the ground.

During the trips from the Stenbock House to the Cathedral and also from the Cathedral to the cemetery the orchestra was mounted on a huge platform parade float which was towed by an adequate tractor. Thus, the musicians played the music repetitiously and continuously during these funeral processions. There were electronic amplifiers installed on the float to enhance the majesty of the music, and thereby easily audible to the onlookers in the crowds lining up the funeral procession.

A few months before his death, Raimond did have a premonition that his death might be imminent, considering that his overall health had noticeably declined. In a discussion with Vivian, he uttered that unusual desire for his funeral. When Vivian inquired as to the reason for such request he had replied, "Well as far as I'm aware no prominent political leader anywhere has ever had that music played at their funeral. The music is from Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung, the final and fourth opera in a series known collectively as The Ring of the Nibelung, or refered to as the Ring cycle. This music in the opera occurs in conjunction with the death of the main character Siegfried. Since Siegfried was depicted in the opera as a truly magnificent heroic character, Wagner composed the music to reflect such reality plus the anguish of death.

"There is no denying that this music is absolutely magnificent and exultant completely appropriate to its purpose. For that reason, I believe that's why no one has ever had that music played at their funeral as it would appear to be likely considered as unseemly braggadocio on their part. But I say the hell with such false modesty. Whenever I die, I know I would be satisfied with the contributions of my service to our nation. It might not be heroic but still sufficiently meritorious to warrant the playing of this splendid music.

"In addition, the opera emphasizes the scope of the love Brünnhilde has for her soul mate Siegfried. It's remarkable in that as a Valkyrie warrior, she nevertheless still possessed a strong, deep woman's nature which was capable of totally giving herself up to love. Her passion is as strong and deep as her nature. It is not a surface-heat passion. It is love rising from the depths of her heroic woman's soul. The grandeur of her ideal of Siegfried, her thoughts of him as a hero winning fame, her pride in his prowess, her love for one whom she deems as the bravest among men, culminate in the absolute intense passion of her love for him.

"Notwithstanding all the other men and for that matter women you have had sex with, I sense and have the impression that your love for me is equivalent to the strong passionate love Brünnhilde has for Siegfried. Needless to say, my love for you mirror matches that love. For these reasons I truly would want that Wagner's music would be played at my funeral, as it represents in my mind an authentic metaphor for my life."

Vivian had been deeply affected by these romantic sentiments enunciated by Raimond. It made her realize that her sexual proclivities for indulging in promiscuous sexual activity did not preclude her from being susceptible to succumbing to an intense deep passionate romantic love experience. She knew that she might not possess the virtues and purity of the character of Brünnhilde, but she damn well knew her passionate love for Raimond matched Brünnhilde's passion.

Since most men could not abide a slutty wife or a significant other, Vivian had concluded that her chances for finding a true romantic love of the kind that romantic poets would rave about, was not in the cards for her. In retrospect that was the fatal flaw that undid her marriage to Eino Tarvas. Eino talked a good game about his unconcern as to her past wanton sexual history, but Vivian got the impression that he expected her to adhere to the letter of law of the traditional marriage vows of faithfulness.

Sensing Eino's true feelings, Vivian did not disclose her visits to the TLR orgies. He did find out of Vivian's inconsequential adultery by interrogating her then three year old daughter, Maia. That discovery made him less forgiving when she committed adultery in the Tartu incident whereby, she miscarried and learned of her infertility. That then in essence ended her marriage to Eino, although they did stay married a few years longer on the ostensible premise of still attempting to salvage an acceptable reconciliation.

But Raimond Kruuse was definitely a different kettle of fish. He had truly accepted Vivian's promiscuity as a characteristic which simply identified who she was and did not view it as a flaw in her personality. He considered her as a truly remarkable woman whom he was fortunate, to have had in his life. He could discern that she was capable of fiercely loving despite the occasional independent sexual contact, and he was grateful for it.

When he had conveyed his wish to have Wagner's music played at his funeral, it made Vivian realize the intensity of their mutual love for each other. Now that he was gone, her grief was magnified by that reality. It made her regret at how many times she had taken his love for granted. That in turn caused her to be obstinate in extracting the concession from government funeral planners to include the playing of Wagner's music.

Vivian's grief over Raimond's death was overwhelming and sapped her energy and her normal cheerful outlook on life. She skipped the weekend orgy in August on the occasion of Natasha's annual festival of chamber music, although she managed to attend the performances. She also canceled her July and her November Thanksgiving family visits to the United States.

In consequence of her mourning, Vivian entered into a period of celibacy. Her one exception during this period occurred in November of that year when she agreed to a double date with Carmen Kass. It was a blind date for Vivian as her escort was an friend of Carmen's date. She reluctantly acquiesced to having sex with him but was so visibly unenthusiastic in their one night stand such that her lover never contacted her again.

Since Raimond and Vivian had never legally married, he had an independent source of wealth, and consequently upon his death his estate was worth in excess of six million euros. In his Will he relinquished any interest in the matrimonial home where Varvaara resided. That was a matter of formality as Varvaara had met the mortgage payments once they separated and Raimond had never been inclined to demand his share of the equity. Thus, his estate was divided into three equal parts to be bequeathed to his two daughters and to Vivian.

A legacy of more than two million euros would be objectively considered a substantial amount of monies. However, compared, to Vivian's wealth it was a mere pittance. Besides Vivian did not have a desire to include his estate into her fortune as the actual knowledge of its existence would be a continuous reminder of him and what she had lost. She felt that such awareness would not free her from the melancholy she was experiencing, and she knew that eventually she would have to move on with her life. She was after all still only forty-nine years of age with ostensibly lots of living still to do before it was her turn to leave this planet.

Consequently, Vivian decided to utilize her share of Raimond's bequest to establish a scholarship fund in his name to provide fully paid tuition to three Estonian students who would pursue an accounting career as a result of their studies The scholarships would be open to students in the three public universities in Tallinn and Tartu plus the private Estonian Business school in Tallinn.

The news of Vivian's decision to establish the scholarship fund quickly became public knowledge in Estonia. The public reaction to this news was highly favorable and enhanced even more her already considerable personal popularity in the nation. The Reform Party was besieging her to take a more active role in the party and to seek the leadership of the party as the former Reform Party PM had announced her intention to resign within a year and to return to private life. Vivian demurred from the Party's overtures pleading her grief but promising that in the new year she would make a decision in this regard.

All this buzz surrounding the increased popularity of Vivian in Estonia was not lost on Andres Ott. The latter had successfully been elevated from his temporary role as acting PM to becoming the official Prime Minister of Estonia. He was naturally aware of the latest political polling which showed that with Vivian Laaning as leader of the Reform Party, the Centre Party would definitely lose in the next national elections. In fact, her popularity was so high that under her leadership, the Reform Party could possibly form a majority government, and thus not require parliamentary support from any other Party.

To avert what he would consider such to be a disaster, Prime Minister Ott set up a meeting with Vivian just before Christmas to make an offer of the ambassadorship to the United States. As he was recounting the reasons and the benefits to accepting this post, he actually didn't think she would accept, but he had to try anyway for political expediency. Luckily for him, the offer was to Vivian's liking. She really didn't relish becoming the leader of the Reform Party and had no ambition to becoming the Prime Minister. She would have been interested in becoming the President of Estonia which in essence was a ceremonial position which would suit her temperament quite nicely, but that was not likely to occur in the foreseeable future. In any case the offer to be the Estonian Ambassador to the United States was attractive enough for Vivian that to Ott's surprise, she immediately unhesitatingly accepted the proffered position.

Usually, the first stage in the process of sending a new ambassador to a post in the United States is for Estonia to privately, and confidentially consult the State Department to ascertain whether Vivian Laaning as the new ambassador is unacceptable in some way. This private consultation avoids any embarrassing rejection if for any reason Vivian is deemed persona non grata to the United States. Naturally, since Vivian would still be an American citizen that would be a perfunctory formality but nevertheless the tried and true diplomatic protocol must be followed. The consultation is done by sending a note verbale from the Estonian embassy addressed directly to Chief of Protocol at the State Department. After the staff of the Protocol Office checks with the appropriate government organizations and any other necessary contacts, the US Agrément is communicated by a return note, and thereupon Estonia would publicly announce the designation of Vivian Laaning as the new ambassador.

Normally the Office of Protocol would have unequivocally assured Estonia that the ambassador-designate will be treated with courtesy during her travel as a private individual to take up her post. The Office of Protocol would coordinate with the Estonian embassy and the President's appointment secretary to arrange for Vivian to present her credentials at an early opportunity. Once the President has accepted Vivian's credentials, the Chief of Protocol would arrange documentation of Vivian's status and immunity and will help arrange Vivian's schedule of visits to the appropriate U.S. officials.

A sticking point that delayed the process of Vivian's appointment as the Ambassador was the fact of her American citizenship. The State Department decreed that if Vivian wanted to enjoy full unfettered diplomatic immunity, she would have to renounce her American citizenship. Otherwise, whenever she was engaged in non diplomatic activity such as visiting her family residing in the United States, she would have no immunity for any violation of US laws in such instances.

Vivian viewed the objection as picayune as she definitely did not intend to drive a motor vehicle and see herself facing a possible DUI violation. However, that preliminary objection delayed Vivian's official appointment until July 1, about a year after Raimond's death. Maia was geeked since she would have their Tallinn house exclusively to herself for two whole months, before she returned to Tartu to finish her final year at the University. Cognizant that her daughter, as had become her want, would hold some freewheeling parties, Vivian cautioned, "Yes Maia, I understand your happiness. Just please don't thrash the place or allow it to be burned down to the ground."

Accordingly, Vivian arrived in Washington, DC a few days prior to her July 1, appointment to see the President of the United States at the White House to present her credentials. Although the meeting was necessarily brief, still there was sufficient time for the President and Vivian to engage in an informative conversation. The President started the conversation, "I've been informed Ambassador that in addition to being an Estonian, you also are a bona fide American citizen. I'm definitely intrigued as to how such circumstance came into being."

Vivian replied, "Oh yes, I was born in Wisconsin to an American born father but curiously enough to a German born mother who as of yet has not applied for American citizenship despite having resided in this country for the vast majority of her life. My father's parents were Estonian and resided with us at the dairy farm where I grew up in Wisconsin. They died a year apart when I was in my mid-teens. As a result of such background, I'm fluent in Estonian and German in addition to English."

The President responded, "I see. That explains your American connection. So how did you become an Estonian citizen and a prominent one at that to allow you to represent that country diplomatically?"

Vivian replied, "Pursuant to my education, I did graduate from the law school at the University of Chicago, and I practiced law a few years as an associate attorney at Kirkland, Mayer & McDermott, one of the largest law firms in Chicago. However, it so happened that my first husband, who is the legitimate father of my daughter, was murdered in prison while awaiting trial on a white collar crime of embezzling his employer.

"His death occurred shortly after we had married. I was not aware of my husband's perfidy beforehand, but I nevertheless undertook to represent him legally as his attorney at least initially, but he insisted that I would be his attorney on record. My husband's employer whom he had embezzled, happened to be Baxter and Sons, a major client of Kirkland, Mayer & McDermott. As a result, although my legal representation of my husband was understandable and even laudatory as a natural romantic imperative on my part, nevertheless there was a legal conflict of interest. It was axiomatic that for me or for that matter for any criminal defense attorney at Kirkland, Mayer & McDermott, to have represented him was verboten. Consequently, I was dismissed from the firm for my troubles."

The President was now more intrigued as he responded, "That's quite a story. In essence then you are an American so how did you become an Estonian citizen or more pertinently why?"

Vivian replied, "Yes certainly my upbringing and character development originated from my American roots, and I suppose that's why Prime Minster Ott chose me for this position. How I became an Estonian citizen was not by design, but by sheer happenstance. After my husband's death and the birth of my daughter, I wanted to take some time off before deciding on my options for the future. On a more or less whim, with my baby daughter in tow, I took a vacation to Estonia with an intention to discover and meet any blood relatives I might have.