‘It’s a beautiful day to be going home’ Helen thought as she sat in the rocking chair out on the porch.
She carefully placed her blue suitcase on the porch next to her feet. In it was a brand new peach colored pant suit she had been saving for this occasion, it even had the tags on it still. There was also a nightgown, a pair of stockings, some under clothes and her toothbrush. She had checked to make sure everything was packed properly before coming downstairs. Even if something had been forgotten, there was no way she was going to go upstairs to retrieve it.
Brian would be here in any minute to pick her up. Her grandson Brian, Helen beamed just thinking about him. He would drive up in his big red convertible and take her away to see the family, take her home.
Brian was always her favorite; she even had a little gift for him. She reached into her purse and dug around until her fingers found the little bundle. Wrapped in green felt was a pair of his granddaddy Burton’s cufflinks. Helen had given the cufflinks to Burton on their first wedding anniversary. She knew he would want Brian to have them.
She smoothed down her skirt and looked down at her hands. When had she gotten so old? Helen could barely remember a time when her hands didn’t look wrinkly and spotty. Time had gone by so quickly. Marriage, kids, retirement, grandkids, death. Burton had died a few years ago, he had a stroke in bed, and he died at home.
‘No, not this home though’ she told herself. ‘Our home, my real home, the home Brain is going to take me to’ She couldn’t quite remember why she had to move to this new home. Her daughter Sara lived in the house now, so Helen could still come and see it.
Tears came to her eyes thinking about the house Burton had bought her just after they were married. She was only 22 and it was the most beautiful thing she had even seen. Even nicer than the honeymoon suite they had stayed in on their trip to Niagara Falls.
It had a big porch and dark wood floors on the first and second level. There was even a brick fireplace that they spent many winter nights in front of. Her favorite part was the big backyard with the pool. The first night they moved in Helen had insisted they go swimming. It had been a beautiful late summer evening, everything was perfect. They laughed and talked and swam for hours. When they had finally crawled into bed Helen knew without a doubt that she had made the right decision accepting Burton Feldman’s proposal.
She pulled a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed the tears spilling onto her cheeks.
‘I need to be ready when Brian gets her. He doesn’t need to show up and see his grandma out on the porch crying like some silly old lady’
A smile returned to Helens face when she reminded herself that any minute now Brian would be pulling up the drive and taking her back home to her family.
--------------------
Nurse Brown looked out the window at the old women sitting on the porch. Everyday after lunch Miss Helen would go upstairs, get her suitcase and wait on the porch for her grandson to come and take her home. And everyday when the sun started to set Miss Helen would get her suitcase and come back inside.
‘Brian must have said he’s coming tomorrow. Silly me I must have mixed up the days. It’s tomorrow when he’s going to pick me up and take me to my home’
Some of the other nurses tried to explain to Helen that he wasn’t coming; she was wasting her time sitting out there.
‘Everyday you’re out there; he never shows up, he never is going to show up. Come back inside’
Exasperated they would finally give up.
‘That silly women, she must be senile, everyday he doesn’t come and the next day she’s back out there. I give up’
Nurse Brown never tried to argue with Helen though. Secretly she thought it was one of the most beautiful things. Everyday Helen was happy, waiting and thinking about her family and her old home. Everyday she had a reason to get up and get dressed. She had something to look forward to, even if it was just memories.