Paul rolled over in bed. The sun was streaking through the crack in the curtains. It had been 20 years since he needed an alarm. After a few moments he looks over to the other side of the bed to find it vacant.
Slowly, with the aches that accompany a man of his age, he manages to sit himself up, and sighs. He grabs the remote and turns on the TV. CNN appears and catches a bit of his attention, but only marginally. He glances around the room. The picture of his wife on the wall above the TV. Sitting on the shelve is a wedding photo of his daughter. The room is clean and well kept.
He hears sounds from the adjoining bathroom followed by a woman’s voice. “Good lord, I thought I had almost 20 minutes without the news.”
His wife, Lola, well into her 70’s, is dressed in slacks, a nice shirt and ready for the day emerges from the bathroom. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you when I get back.” Paul nods, and turns his attention back to the TV.
“Brandi! Brandi!” Lola calls out. A back poodle runs into the room and jumps on the bed next to Paul. “Good girl! Are you hungry?”
“I am going to take Brandi out with me.” Lola reaches into the closet and pulls out the leash. Brandi excitedly jumps from the bed. Lola latches the leash and walks out of the room.
Later, Paul emerges from the bedroom dressed in slacks and a button up blue shirt. The shirt has a few spotted food stains as if it had been worn a few days in a row. He walks his way into the kitchen and then into the living room where he finds the remote for the living room TV and turns on CNN. He returns to the refrigerator and starts preparing breakfast.
The sausage smell and the looks of his over-easy eggs make him smile. However, the crackling of the cooking makes it difficult for him to hear the TV. He puts the spatula down, retrieves the TV remote he brought to the kitchen for just such a situation, and adjusts the TV to the loudest volume possible. He then returns his attention back to his cooking.
The front door opens and Brandi runs eagerly to him.
“Good lord, can we turn the TV up a little louder!” Lola shouts.
“I can’t hear it while I’m cooking.” Lola grabs the remote and turns it down. “Good god, do you think something in the world is going to happen while you are cooking.” She changes the channel to “The View”.
“Hey, I was watching that!” Paul laments. “Yeah, I’m going to watch “The View” while I work on my Sudoku.” She sits down in her living room chair. “But I wanted to watch the news!”, Paul argues.
“Well, I still hear the TV in the other room. You can watch in there.” Paul puts his eggs and sausage on his plate. “But I’m eating”, he responds. “Wouldn’t be the first time you ate in the bedroom”, Lola barks back. Paul stands frustrated for a moment.
“Would you like some sausage and eggs? I can make another plate after I get done”, Paul asks.
“No, thanks. Smells good, though. I had a bagel at the bakery during the walk.”
Paul walks toward the bedroom but thinks the better of it and returns to the kitchen. He starts watching “The View” from the dining table. Brandi sits at attention. He cuts her off a piece of sausage and tosses it to her. She grabs it in the air before it hits the ground. Something on “The View” strikes Lola funny and she starts laughing. Paul grins to himself as well while he takes a drink of orange juice.
“Doesn’t Jess have a game tonight?”, Lola asks. Paul pulls out his phone to check his calendar. “Yes, Patti will be here at 4:45. Dang, I almost forgot.”
Paul finishes, rinses his dishes before placing them in the dishwasher and slowly walks back to the living room. As he starts to sit down on the chair next to Lola’s, she asks, “Did you remember your pills?”. Paul stands up straight, a bit embarrassed that he forgot, and walks to the kitchen.
Lola shakes her head and gives a quick glance as goes back to the kitchen. He finds his pill organizer, removes his pills and returns to the living room and to his seat next to Lola’s. “The View” continues.
A few hours later, the TV is still on, but the two are fast asleep. Brandi lays asleep on the couch. Heavy rain starts to fall outside slowly waking both of them up.
“Boy, it is really coming down”, Lola yawns. “If I didn’t know better I would say that was hail”, Paul responds. He slowly lifts himself up from the chair and walks to the window. Lola gets herself up. “I don’t know if they will have a game or not”, Paul says to himself. Lola walks her way toward the bathroom. “They play those little league games in hurricanes”, she says before she shuts the door behind her.
Later, they sit across from each other at the dining table having lunch. Lola is checking her phone and giggling at things she reads. Paul is reading a novel on his I-pad. “Looks like the weather is clearing.” Lola notices.
Paul glances out the dining room window. “Looks that way. Probably be a bit cold though.” Both of them return to reading.
Later in the day Paul is in the garage. It is littered with boxes. He moves the step stool to grab one off the top. Lola emerges from door. “Good lord, why don’t you wait for Patti or Mark to take that down?! They are coming later.” “I’ll be fine!” Paul responds defiantly.
Lola walks toward him. “No, really, why don’t you wait.” “I said I’d be fine!” Growing more agitated he starts to grab the box. Lola has made her way to him. He has it secure but starts to lose his balance. Lola doesn’t grab him, but braces behind him so he can get his balance. “God Lord! What am I supposed to do if you hurt yourself?”
“I’m fine!” as he steps down. Frustrated, Lola responds, “I think you can take some time off from this sorting anyway. We are in no hurry.”
“I figured I can get through this one and get it to Jess tonight so he can make some more money.”
“I wonder how much money he actually makes and how much Patti just sends it directly to the Good Will?” Lola says dismissively. Paul starts to get a bigger smile as he opens the box. “I wish I had E-Bay and Offer Up, and all this stuff when I was his age. Really good way to make money for kid.” Lola looks inside the box, “I’m sure he’ll get all of his college tuition with that belt buckle.” Paul pulls out a huge belt buckle that says “Wyoming Born and Bread”.
“Well, it’s as good as new.” Paul says. “Yeah, never wore once. Who got that for you?” Lola asks.
“Your mom.”
“No.”
“Yes, yes. Your mom”
“No”.
“Yes. She had went on a senior trip after your dad passed away. My birthday was just after it.”
“Oh my god. You are right.”
“Yeah it was about 20 or 30 years ago.” Paul remembers as he looks at it.
“That’s right. And she made you open it last because she was so proud of it.” This memory hits them both at the same time as they share a small laugh.
Lola turns to go. “O.K. You keep digging for gold. One box only. I’m sure Jess will be thrilled.” She walks away. Paul pulls out handfuls of novelty shot glasses. Lola goes back into the house.
“I have a lot of shot glasses for a guy who doesn’t drink.”
Later that afternoon, Paul pours himself a glass of water. He hears the TV in the bedroom. As he walks by he finds Lola folding clothes and towels on the bed. He leers for a bit. Lola doesn’t seem to notice. Brandi lies on the bed as she folds. The front door opens and he turns his attention there.
“Dad. Are you ready?” He walks to the door. His daughter, a woman in her forties, dressed in jeans and sweatshirt is in the living room. “Come on dad, I said quarter to five. I want to get some coffee before the game. I have to use the bathroom, real quick, though.”
“Oh yeah, we almost forgot.” Paul replies. As she passes him on the way to the bathroom, she gives him a strange look. “We?”
“Yeah, your mom was just folding and we lost track of…….” He pauses as she passes the bedroom which is empty, but the TV is still on. She turns back and looks at him as confused look overcomes him. She pauses but decides not to say anything as she continues into bathroom. He walks back to the bedroom and stands learning into the empty room with the TV on.
Patti emerges from the bathroom. “Dad, are you ready?” She approaches him and hears the TV. “Since when do you watch Hallmark?” She walks into the room and turns the TV off. Paul stands as a sense of sadness comes over him.
“Are you o.k.?” Paul struggles for words, “Um, ……..your mom, um……”. Patti realizes he is in a strange place and instinctively hugs him. “I know, I know.” She takes him by the hand and they walk to the bed where they both sit. Paul is trying to keep the tears from coming. When Patti sees him she is fighting the same impulse. He looks around the room at the same pictures he glanced in the morning.
“I know. It is still hard. I can’t believe it’s been two years.” Paul whispers to himself, “Two years.” Patti continues. “Sometimes when I wake up I think I need to call her. Like she is still around.” Paul nods to himself and wipes his nose with his sleeve.