Old Folks Chapter 1

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  By : Dillon Warren

  Chapter 1

  It was an extremely cold winter evening in Clearwater , FL on November 17, 2006. Florida does not normally have cold winters, but this night was cold far beyond a typical November evening. Walter was just 83 years young this year, and the winters were becoming tougher and tougher on his body each year. This night was particularly tough on him. Normally he would go to sleep, and climb into his nice warm bed well before 8p.m. the rooms at shady oaks retirement home are particularly cozy. The building was an old brick unit built in the early 1900s. It didn’t give the appearance of being comfortable inside, but the staff was very good and caring. They kept the place well maintained. The residents of shady oaks retirement home didn’t have much to complain about. Walter could not go to bed early on this night. Wednesday nights were Walter’s time to spend with his lovely wife, Margaret. Margaret was younger than Walter she was 81 years of age. She aged much better than he did however. Margaret still had a blonde tint to her hair. Her face had become wrinkled, but compared to the age in Walters face she appeared a good 20 years younger. She was a short woman standing about 5’2 (she was 2 years ago). Walter hadn’t lost any height though. He had always stood an average height of 5’9 , and hadn’t lost any of it. He felt he was destined to remain average, but at age 83 the idea of remaining average wasn’t a terrible thought Walters hair had completely lost its color, he had white hair that was rapidly receding, but had not fully left his yet as if it was hanging onto hope that he would not go bald. Walter didn’t care though. He had long past the age here his appearance was a concern to him. Once you pass sixty and move into a retirement home the concern for your look tend to go out the window. Walter was content wearing whatever the orderly picked out for him each day, tonight it blue sweatpants, and a blue jacket with a duck on it. Walter felt this looked childish, but at least it matched. Margaret however looked beautiful as always. Even at this age she took the time to pick out her outfit carefully, do her make-up, hair etc. Walter did not understand this, but he admired it. He did not know how she drew the energy to do such a thing in a place like this, but he appreciated it none the less. Margaret’s appearance was all Walter had to look forward to in this place. This was the highlight of his life ever since he hit the ripe old age of 79. A few times a week Walter would pull up a seat in the cafeteria, and order his usually banana pudding and oatmeal. The banana’s were freshly slices, and mixed in the pudding. He would also he a nice warm bowl of oatmeal with apple cinnamon, with a glass of chocolate milk . He would get hot chocolate on a night so cold like this. The food at shady oaks was top notch as well. Again there really wasn’t much for the residents to complain about. The place was designed for comfort. Walter would then read the daily paper. He would get it first thing in the morning, but he would wait to read it. He wouldn’t have anybody to conversate with, so he needed something to help work his mind while he ate. The Buccaneers had started to become a relevant team, but always seemed to disappoint. Walter loved football, and always made sure to read the sports first in case he ran out of time. Walter would make sure he arrived at 7:55, this was precisely 5 minutes before Margaret would arrive each night. He made sure he got there before she did, each of them was always punctual. This is one thing he truly loved about her. He made sure that he would grab the southern most seat in the cafeteria. This was because she sat in the northern end of the cafeteria to be close to the overview of the golf course. Shady oaks had the largest , and most beautiful golf course of any retirement home in Florida, and Margaret loved the view. She ate dinner in this spot every night. Walter would watch her from a far every night during dinner. He did not keep distance out of want, or because he did not want to be right by her side. Walter had a deep undying love for his wife. He yearned to be next to her every moment until his inevitable passing would come. This was the closest he was able to get, and he had accepted it. He realized that if he couldn’t be right by her side, he at least wanted to be able to see her, and know she was happy, and well. Walter knew that Margaret loved him. He had never questioned it. She had been an amazing wife to him, and he never felt more loved by any one, or anything in his long eventful life. He wished so much that he could sit at her table with her, and tell her that he loved her. All he wanted was to be able to hold his wife, and tell her everyday that she meant the world to him. He was instead forced to simply watch from a distance, and hope somewhere deep down, she knew he was there, caring for her after all these years. He was not distant from her by choice, he had been forced into this role. He had fought it for years, but eventually you must give in when you know there is a battle that you cannot win. Five years prior , Margaret had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It has been a long rough battle from there. She was able to fight it for awhile. She remembered Walter for a whole two years after the diagnosis, but it went downhill from there. While she could still function entirely, and lead a relatively healthy/happy life, she had no memory of her life before this place. Walter and her had come here together 13 years ago. They decided not to be a burden on their family members, and check themselves into the retirement home, before they caused too much stress. It wasn’t bad at all though, because they had each other. They shared a room, and lived as just as happily together as they had outside this place. Shady Oaks was very nice, and filled with nice people so there was really no need to complain. Everything was going as well as it could for a couple in their 70’s living in a retirement home. They were both the types that always saw the good in things, and enjoyed life. They always had been. This was until Margaret became sick. Walter had always seen the good in even the toughest things in his life. His step-father had been extremely abusive to him as a child. He had been beaten, and even hospitalized regularly because of it. But as he got older Walter had seen how this shaped his character, and mad him a better person. He could not find the good behind this. He could not imagine why such a wonderful woman had to have this happen to her. He felt he would have been much more deserving of this illness. He had been a bit of a troublemaker in his earlier years. Not Margaret though, she had always been the sweetest most loving person Walter had ever met. He felt she deserved the best, and decided that was what she would get. For all 45 years of their marriage he treated her like a queen. He held every door for her, cooked for her, and held her every night. He made sure he treated her the way she deserved. That was his biggest resentment over the distance he now had to keep. It was not that he couldn’t see her. That would be selfish reasoning of him. It was because he could not treat her the way he had for so many years, the way he knew that she deserved. He knew why he had to stay away from her thought, and while it tore him apart inside, he knew it was what was best for her. There had been multiple instances in the past that needed to be averted in the future. Margaret’s illness had mad Walter very very bitter, and hateful inside. He would get mad at her for not remembering him. This was not because he felt she did it on purpose, he knew it was the disease, but because he knew that she needed him, and he could not be there for her if she didn’t remember him. There had been many nights that they had gotten into arguments over it. It was not fair to Margaret, because her memory was gone, and their was nothing she was doing wrong. Walter would yell, but it was not his anger towards her, it was this situation, and this damn disease. But he still yelled, and became angry. It not only affected their relationship, but it affected how the entire home looked at Walter. He could tell they thought he was a bad person for yelling at her, and for becoming angry, but Walter didn’t care.” What right did they have to judge him anyway “ he thought , they would handle his situation just the same. The yelling was not forced Walter c
ompletely away though. It was an incident only the guards were able to tell Walter about, because he himself could not remember it. He did not know if this was because he was losing his memory as well, or if he just decided to block it out of his mind because he did not want to remember. The guards told Walter that a night similar to his, almost a year ago exactly Walter was yelling at Margaret in frustration. This was not out of the usual. What happened next Walter refuses to admit to this day, even though he has accepted the results. He only has because he is the only person who does not think it happened, this must mean he is wrong. Walter had told Margaret that she must remember him, she had too. She told him that he was not her husband, and never had been, that he was nothing , and was not any part of her life. The guards told Walter that he had struck her. He hit her so hard that it broke his own hand ( this may have been because he was old , and fragile). She was hospitalized for a few days, but was released after. He