Edgar was old. He accepted that. He was in a 'retirement' home. "Screw that" he thought, "it's a damn nursing home." Edgar's wife of 54 years, Alison had passed about 4 years prior. His sons and daughter had tried to take care of Edgar, or Eddy but found it too hard. "Hard my ass," Eddy would say, "It's not like I need CARE or anything."
Eddy would occasionally forget things, occasionally get lost when walking around the neighborhood and had fallen on two, TWO occasions. Ok, so the kids were concerned that their 84 year old father was going to get hurt, but it's not like he was an invalid. He wasn't, not at all. He was still pretty active and was able to move around well. He had enjoyed taking care of his yard and his home, even though after Alison was gone, it didn't seem as much like home. That was why the kids had him move in with them. First Jane his 28 year old, his youngest. "HOLY CRAP!" had been his reaction when Alison had announced she was pregnant. "I'm too friggin' OLD to have another kid!" He was kind of right, but abortion was very much out of the question. "You don't have to be a Catholic to hate the idea of killing your own kid!" said the devout (sort of) Methodist. So, Jane had been born to a 54 year old man and his 53 year old wife. How, they never really understood, but considered Jane a true blessing.
Until Jane said, "Dad, I love you so much but you're kind of cramping my style. No guy wants to date a girl who lives with her Dad."
He took the 'F.U.' in stride and moved on to Steve who was now 44. It didn't work out with Steve who tried to pass him on to Rudy (47) who wanted no part of Dad since they falling out they had over Bill Clinton back in 1992. Everyone said Rudy was a total douche for holding onto that, and he was, but that was Rudy. "I love that miserable little shit, as much as I don't want to!" Eddy said many times after Rudy wouldn't let the argument go, even after Eddy had apologized, and didn't feel he HAD to, but wanted to reconnect with his son. Nope, Rudy WAS a miserable douche!
He got passed to Frank (48), Samantha (49) and Bob (54) and each time, something went wrong or they found they didn't have enough room. Finally his oldest, Rick (56) gave it the best shot. He kept Eddy around for almost a year before one February night when Eddy went for a walk, got lost about a mile from home and then slipped on the ice, fracturing his elbow. It had taken almost 2 hours to find Eddy who by now was near freezing. He went straight to the Emergency Ward at St. Leonard's Hospital and was admitted for the fracture and early hypothermia. After 2 days, he was allowed to go home, but Rick lamented on how it was killing him. He tearfully went on for almost an hour about how worried he always was, how much it was affecting his core family and how Eddy should truly consider a 'retirement' home. Always it was a 'retirement' home.
In truth, Eddy was in an assisted living complex that was almost as fun as a condominium for Senior Citizens. He had plenty of activities (yeah, BINGO was one of them) but it wasn't limited to OLD PEOPLE stuff. They had a weekly dance, a piano bar which served beer and wine (three drink MAXIMUM)as well as some hard liquor, plus a pool, a game room, movie night and even a 3 alley bowling alley. "OK," Eddy thought to himself, "This is pretty fucking good!" Eddy, being a Korean War veteran (6 years active Army, 2 years in-active), was a true gentleman to all the ladies, but occasionally could swear like nobody's business.
One day Eddy was in the game room with a few of his cronies. It was wonderful how the vast majority of the residents made friends easily and would group up. Eddy, Roscoe, LeRoy and Sheldon were sitting playing "Battleship", winner playing the next and the next. Roscoe had spent 12 years in the Navy and would often say just how silly the game was, only to be told to "Shut Up Swabie" by LeRoy, the Marine in the group and a World War 2 Veteran. At 94 he was oldest in the group and would often let them know it in no uncertain terms. Sheldon had been in the Army from about 1956-1964 getting out just prior to the Vietnam War really gearing up. He always said he was one of the luckiest men alive. He had just turned 80. All of them had their issues, age will do that, but overall, they were still very much on their games. Especially LeRoy who was sharp as a tack, just had a balance issue, that's why he had ended up here instead of staying in his fancy retirement community.
And another thing Huntington House had were plenty of ladies. The boys all liked that. Well, there were a few here and there who batted for the other team, as many of the guys said, but the vast majority all had the attitude, "I love everyone and everyone should love me, just watch the hands!" LeRoy had no less than three girlfriends, one of whom was a mere 67; a cradle robber.
Sheldon had one nice lady he kept company with. Sarah Schwartzman was a lovely woman of 87. Sheldon said, he always liked older women. Lately they hadn't spent as much time together, but they were close. Sarah had developed dementia since she and Sheldon 'hooked up' and it had been tough on both of them, but Sheldon still went by her room, a double, every other day for about an hour until she either got tired of him or forgot who he was there to see. Sheldon found it heart breaking, but still, she was something else.
Roscoe was the only one who was still actually married. His wife Lenore lived in town nearby. She was about 60 though Roscoe never really told anyone. She'd show up now and then but it was obvious that he was here and she was there because neither could really stand one and other. Roscoe was good with that and didn't let his 'institutionalization' interfere with his social life.
Eddy, having only moved in about a year prior had made several female friends but nothing clicked. He still missed Alison greatly. She had been the apple of his eye, the core of his existence and the dream of his life. He would still occasionally cry at night when he thought of her. She had been a bombshell when she was young but unlike some women, as she aged, she didn't age well. Eddy didn't see it that way. She was a bombshell even lying in the casket at her wake. It had been tough saying good bye to the only woman he had ever loved and even in his time overseas, the only woman he had EVER slept with and the only woman he ever wanted to.
However, Eddy wasn't one to cling TOO tightly to the past and knew he had to move on and enjoy the years he had left, be they 1 or 20. Everyone told him that mourning wasn't going to allow him any enjoyment and they were right, but he still mourned, now and then, and privately. Though, he would now and then start to talk about her to whomever. He couldn't help it, everyone understood. Well, Roscoe had a tough time with it. "Dammit, if I could just get that old battle axe to die, I'd take her insurance and buy a Lincoln and we'd all go to Vegas! Or somewhere closer. I might get lost going to Vegas."
As the game of "Battleship" continued, with the Swabie beating the crap out of the Marine (which the two Army vets found HILARIOUS!) a new resident was getting a tour. Sheldon spotted her first and he just gasped leading LeRoy to call B-3, which he had already called. He got a bit angry at Sheldon until he looked over and saw what he was gasping about. "HOLY SHIT! She's a looker, ain't she boys?"
They all looked over and saw this stunning woman of maybe, 77 strolling along with the tour guide/activities coordinator, Lydia Lindscott. She had long grey hair in a pony tail (something many older women couldn't carry off, but SHE did) and a nice figure. Her make-up was very tastefully done. The women in the House often either went overboard and looked like clowns or whores or went au natural. She had it perfect.
"I'm hard for the first time in 10 years," said Roscoe, adding, "Or is it five. Shit, I've lost track. I could swear..."
LeRoy cut him off, "Will you pipe down. You're distracting me from my oogling."
As they gazed with lust upon the new resident, secretly they each began to form a plan of attack. Each knew the other would be interested and figured they'd have to get to her first. Well, not so much Sheldon. He paused as he looked and then said, rather quietly to himself, "Eh, whatever." And he got up and said, "I'm going to visit Sarah." And he left.
Eddy just gazed at her. She WAS stunning. He thought how it was funny that he and his guys would often look right past gorgeous women in their 40s or younger and be thoroughly impressed with women over the age of 65. He recalled when he was in his 40s ignoring the 20 some-things for the older women. "Age can change you," He once told his son Rick when HE turned 50.
As they watched her, she was suddenly approached by Stan Kachinsky, a guy in his 90s who had never been in the service. Four-F he had claimed! "LAZY SLACKER!" LeRoy had exclaimed. However, Stan had the paperwork to prove it, even after all these years. Stan might have been in his 90s, but he was one of the most mentally and physically fit guys there. At the dances, he could Jitter-Bug for minutes at a time. His Stroll was a huge hit. Whereas many of the residents would only last for about 5 minutes, if you got Stan Strolling, he could go all night. Granted it wasn't exactly a fast dance like the Twist or the Jitter-Bug, it was still a fair amount of work, especially for anyone over 70. Stan still had ALL of his hair and was pretty well put together, still working out in the House gym three days a month, sometimes more. He had almost all of his original teeth and with a Masters Degree in English Literature; he could talk up any woman and charm the pants off of her. He dressed impeccably as well. All the guys hated him, even his friends, though in a different, jealous kind of way.