"Mom fell again."
For the third time in six months, my mother-in-law had fallen. They had attendants watching her at the Nursing Home, but she'd manage to do it each time, due to her dementia, and we'd have to race down to see her.
So it was, Jill and I drove the 3 hours, seeing her mom, bruised and incoherent. Since we hadn't gotten rid of her apartment because it was so cheap, the wife would stay with Mom while I would go check on the place and stay there.
The apartment was musty, so I aired it out while I went shopping for staples like beer and pretzels, ready for a boring night, not really minding the alone-time. It's good to sit back and reflect.
After visiting again to make sure the wife was okay, I was about to return to the apartment for some Football and Beer, when my wife's Aunt Julia came rushing in, having heard about Flo's latest fall. She was out of breath from rushing, no spring chicken herself.
Julia was the sister of Jill's Dad, who had passed away. Not to make it too confusing, she was someone we rarely saw, and I knew little about. And she lived in the same town where the apartment and nursing home were.
She and Jill shared a hug, sobbing together. She nodded to me, remembering my name, but I couldn't place her until my wife's introduction, "You remember Aunt Julia..."
"Yes, of course, how are you?"
Julia, though older, was 10 years younger than Mom, still lived alone, widowed for 20 years. She tried to visit Mom once a week but it was tough. Jill thanked her for whatever time she could spend, and she nodded in appreciation.
I remembered seeing pictures from her parents' wedding and Julia had been a bride's maid. She looked like an old time movie star, even then, like Ann Blythe, dark hair against ivory skin, she shone through even back then.
None of us grows old as we wish, or we'd never age at all, but seeing Julia now, I could still see the lines of her face, the smile, the smooth white skin. Probably 65 now, she was still a striking woman.
The attendants came to end the visit since only my wife could stay overnight. Julia and I walked out together. She was 5'5, in heels, the hair still black, (with help, I'm sure) and still current with eye shadow and modest false lashes. We stopped at her car.
"So, you're staying at Flo's place tonight?"
"Yes, probably tomorrow, too. Until Jill feels comfortable about leaving Mom."
"Well, I'm sure you weren't looking for the company of an old lady, but if you'd like to stop off, I have snacks, and cocktails. After all, it's only 8 PM. Lord knows, I could use a drink!"
I hesitated, and she jumped in. "But I'm sure you are tired from your trip, so maybe some other time. Here's my cell number. If Flo or Jill needs anything, just call, okay Honey?" She reached up and pulled me down to her, and kissed my cheek. "Nice to see you again, Honey, you take care now."
She climbed in her car, smiled again, and drove off. On the way back to the apartment, I felt lousy. Here, this nice old lady has been visiting my mother-in-law, knowing Flo barely knows who anybody is. And all she asked was for me to stop by and have a drink. Who visits her? This is the thanks she gets?
I paused outside the apartment and thought some more. I dialed her number. "Hello?" I heard.
"Hi, Aunt Julia, it's Harry, Jill's husband."
Excitedly she asked, "Is everything alright? What happened?"
"Oh, nothing, sorry to scare you, I was just wondering if that offer still stood?"
She seemed happy to give me her address. I stopped at a liquor store, bought a bottle of wine, the least I could do, and showed up 15 minutes later.
She opened the door with a big smile. "Hi, Honey I'm glad you could make it. Please, come in!"
I handed her the bottle, she seemed pleased, offered to open it. I chose a Scotch instead, and she poured one for herself, talking amiably as she moved around the kitchen/dining area in her neat little place, putting out snacks. We sat at the counter when she finished and she raised a glass. "To Flo, the best big sister I never had."
She was a bundle of energy, at any age, and she kept calling me Honey, and Sweetie, and Doll, and I knew she would have had me wrapped around her finger back in the day. Thirty years older than me, and I loved her company. For some reason she kept me smiling.
A few times, she said, "What? Why are you smiling, Baby?" and I replied, "I don't know, I just like you, you make me smile." Then she would seem shy for a minute, then be off on another story, or risque joke, or an idea about life.
It was midnight in a flash, and two-thirds of the Scotch was gone, mostly consumed by me, but she was showing the affects, too.
