The Better Half of a Century
Looking around the apartment Bev and Sam have hundreds of photos of their family pinned up in collages and displayed on tables in picture frames: children, grandchildren, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. But what is odd is that there are very few pictures of Bev and Sam together. There is one, however, that shows the two newlyweds in a portrait taken right after their wedding. The photo is old and sallow and its age speaks of the years they’ve been together. The photo shows two happy youngsters, side by side, a beautiful college student and a virile young man in his perfectly pressed Coast Guard uniform.
In the morning Sam wakes up late, and if in the right mood, he’ll shave. His features have started to sag with age, but he has a full head of clean white hair. He keeps it cut in the military style he’s had since his time in the Coast Guard. He dresses every day in flannel underwear and a heavy flannel shirt and perfectly pressed suit pants. In the summer he’ll wear just one fleece but in the winter he’s been known to layer 3 or 4 fleeces at once. He has a cheerful demeanor but gets grumpy in the winter.
“The cold gets in my bones,” he says.
Around 11 o’clock, he’ll take their dog Buddy, a shih tzu/poodle mutt, for his morning walk. With his fluffy white hair and luscious curls, he bears an uncanny resemblance to his owners. This resemblance was so striking to one local magazine that they even took his picture with Bev for an article with a title along the lines of “Dogs Who Look Like Their Owners.”
Buddy also has a severe temperament disorder—he’s intensely frantic when left alone. Since Buddy can’t be left alone, even for a few minutes, either Bev or Sam has to stay in and watch him. When family comes to visit, Buddy usually becomes the main topic of conversation : how smart Buddy is, his diet, his friends in the neighborhood. He has become their obsession, their final child.
“Did you feed Buddy, Bev?”
“Yes, Sammy. It’s 3 o’clock. Of course I fed him!”
“Should I walk him now, Bev?”
“No, Sammy. Not until 3:30.”
“Does he need a bath, Bev?”
“You’re too tired, Sammy.”
“He looks thin, Bev.”
“Sammy, I just fed him.”
“Did you give him his medication?”
“He takes it with his food, Sammy.”
And so on.
