No Place Like Home Ch 15 pt 2

Charlie held out his hand and Margarite reached out, clasping it tightly with her own weathered bony hands.  1

“I’m Charlie Reynolds and this is Rose Burkett.”  2

Margarite nodded at Charlie and then looked at Rose.  Suddenly  the look on her face became one of confusion. 3

“ I’m sorry what did you say her last name was?  I‘m a bit hard of hearing.”  Margarite replied.4

“I’m Rose, Rose Burkett, she repeated louder, hoping that Margarite could understand her.  Margarite smiled and nodded but Rose was certain she had not heard her so she reached in her purse and pulled out a small steno pan and pen.5

She wrote,6

“My name is Rose Burkett, I knew your niece Cindy Talmadge and have been a friend of Gilbert's for a couple months.  The other guy is Charlie,   Gilbert’s physical therapist.  Gilbert's mother passed away over a month ago and I’m not sure he actually believes or understands that she’s past on, and we haven’t figured out how to tell him yet.  You were the only relative I could find and was hoping you would be able to give us a little more background on you’re family.  I know we are complete strangers, but I am totally harmless… promise.7

Instead of answering, Margarite turned in her wheel chair and headed around to the other side of the bed.  Reaching in the nightstand she pulled out a set of hearing aids and looked back at her new friends apologetically.8

“I haven’t needed these is so long,” she said, putting them carefully in each ear. “I nearly forgot I had them.”9

A high pitched squeal filled the room and Gilbert began to look curiously around, trying to locate the source of the noise.10

“That’s better.” she said, “Now, talk to me, darlin.  Sorry I don‘t like to write…Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Hurts me to do almost anything.”11

“How long have you been here?” Rose asked.12

“Over twenty years!” she replied, sounding almost surprised herself. “ I started getting arthritis in my forties and by the time my husband Wilford passed away I was needing assistance.  That‘s why I‘m here.  My husband was quite a bit older than me, fifteen years to be exact, and after his passing I could no longer take care of myself.  I didn‘t want to be a burden on my family so I moved into this place.  It used to be pretty nice, but it‘s gone way down hill since I first got here.  It seems to me the cost of living‘s gone through the roof while the quality of care has gone in the other direction.” 13

Rose felt compassion for this woman, she barely knew and suddenly felt like she was prying, but Margarite seemed eager to answer questions so she pulled up a chair and sat down.  Charlie took her lead and pulled up a chair also, while Gilbert plopped down on her bed, so hard the old frame creaked under the pressure.  14

“So you knew that your niece passed away, recently?”15

“I tried to pay for the funeral, but someone else had already covered the cost, so I just sent flowers.  I read about it in the paper and wanted to make sure she had a proper burial.  I asked who‘d paid for the casket and stuff, but they couldn‘t tell me of course.  Sad story, that one.”16

“Trust me, I know. “ Rose replied. “I saw her only a week before she passed away.  I petitioned a judge to keep her out of jail, and I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.  If it wasn’t for me she might still be alive.”17

“Don’t feel guilty, sweetheart.  We all got to make choices and she made hers.  I just wish someone could have reached her.”18

That’s why I feel so bad.” Rose replied.  “It was my job to reach her and I wasn’t able to do it.”19

“She was probably too far gone before you were even born. She’s had problems since she was a teenager.  Always a little rebellious she just seemed to slip completely away after her parents were killed.”20

Rose remembered her dreams, and the newspaper article she’d read. “If you don’t mind my asking…what happened to them?”21

“They were killed in a car accident on K-4 highway almost thirty years ago.  Cindy was a teenager, just had Gilbert, and Eric was going off to fight in Nam.  She raised that kid all by herself.  I know she was seeing somebody off and on, but he must have been no good, because she wasn’t in no hurry to talk about him. When Gilbert was baby I didn’t see much of her, but once he started school she was coming up here almost every week to borrow money…told me that since Gilbert was  ‘special needs’ she had to have it put him in educational programs that cost more than she could afford.  Of course I believed her, until he got taken away and put in State custody.  A Social worker paid me a visit and informed me of what had happened.  Said I was the only surviving kin she had and wanted to know if I could care for him.  After that I knew what she’d been doing and I felt partially responsible…I should have known, but I didn’t.  I wanted so badly to take him in, but I just wasn’t physically able to.  Prayed for him everyday though.  Everyday.22

Gilbert was falling asleep but stirred at the sound of his name.  He looked almost angelic curled up like a baby with his hands under his head.23

“Well, I think your prayers were answered.” Rose replied. “He’s been through so much, and yet seems to have come out of it unscathed, for the most part. My mother’s taken a liking to him and he’s been living with my parents for a couple weeks.  That’s why I’m here.  He’s practically become a part of the family, and yet, I  know very little about him.”24

“It’s strange how people come in and out of our lives, blessing us with their presence.” Margarite said. “I believe quite often the Lord has his hand in those matters and  I’m so glad to hear he’s taken care of.”25

“You sound like my mother.” Rose said. “Are you Catholic?”26

“Nope, I’m a Latter Day Saint.  My husband’s family came straight from Missouri to Salt Lake.  His grandmother was in one of the first handcart companies to arrive in the Utah Valley.  My family came a little later from overseas.”27

“So you’re a Mormon, then?”28

“Dyed in the wool, true blue, through and through…yes I am.”29

“Rose was impressed with her enthusiasm, though she didn’t quite understand it, and worried that they were beginning to tread on uncharted territory.  Was your brother Mormon, too?”30

“My whole family was.  My brother started drinking in the army, though, and that seemed to turn him away. He married a good woman and had a family at a fairly young age, but eventually the booze took him over to the point the couldn’t stop.  I don’t think he ever did realize he had a problem  and he wasn’t an abusive drunk, by any means.  In fact he could be quite funny, even charming, but it still put him in the ground, you know what I mean?”31

Rose wasn’t sure she did and Margarite could see the confusion on her face.32

“ Like I told you earlier, he died in a horrific car accident.  After his autopsy, he was determined by the coroner to have been quite intoxicated.  The person he hit, was injured but survived and claimed my brother’s car had just swerved over into the other lane.”33

With goose bumps Rose remembered her dream and the woman grabbing his arm during a contraction.  “What about Cindy’s mom.  She was killed too wasn‘t she?”34

“Not at first, she survived nearly two days, but never got to even hold her baby.”35

“You mean the child survived?”36

“Sure did.  Little girl named Abish Eve.  I went up to the hospital to see her.  Beautiful baby.”37

“What a beautiful name.“ Rose replied, she’d never heard the name Abish, and thought it sounded wonderfully unique. Margarite was turning out to be wealth of information, and Rose knew she would have to start writing  things down in order to remember it all.38