Memories Are An Old Man's Toys

by Elayne Tulliani

  Theresa reached out her hand and presented a beautiful baby blue garter to her aunt. “We all went together and picked it out for you.”

  Eloise chimed in, “I don’t know what they’re talking about Auntie, I was going to get you the leather studded one, but I was out-voted.” Sherry laughed and stretched out her arms to beckon them all in for a group hug.

  Billy and Jimmy had spent the morning at Jimmy’s house and in addition to getting ready they were using the opportunity to get to know one another a little better. Billy had arranged for the limo to come to Jimmy’s house first then to retrieve the ladies. Catherine was keeping an eye out the window for the limo to arrive and when it did the squeal of her voice saying, “It’s here,” made all the women laugh.

  They slowly made their way down the stairs, and when they stepped out the front door, Billy and Jimmy were standing on opposite sides of the passenger door looking as handsome as Sherry and Lisa had ever seen either one of them. There were a handful of neighbors standing on their porches and peeking out of windows. They couldn’t believe their eyes, “Was it possible that some woman had corralled the old man?”

  As Sherry approached the car, she extended her hand to him but rather than just accept her hand he stepped in front of her and reached out and took both of her hands in his and stood there arms distance apart staring at her. “Sherry you are breathtakingly beautiful, absolutely stunning.” Sherry already knew without a shred of doubt that this was the most amazing man she had ever met, but at that moment, for the first time, she felt amazing too.

  As they pulled away from the curb a handful of neighbors waved to them and continued to wave until the car made the turn off of his street. Upon arrival at the function hall, the limo driver opened the door and assisted all the women exiting the car. As they reached the doorway of the function hall a sharply dressed man held open the door and silently gestured for them to enter.

  Billy had somehow managed in that short period to arrange for the room to be beautifully decorated. The awning was draped in soft pink roses and white chiffon wrap. There were only two tables set up, one which displayed a magnificent two tier cake with delicate flowers cascading off the side and gently wrapping around the base. The second table looked as though it had been plucked from the pages of some high-end cuisine magazine. It was more than Sherry could have possibly imagined. Billy stood silently, watching her from the corner of his eye in anticipation of her reaction and hopefully her approval. He finally

  exhaled when he saw the tears begin to flow. He knew she was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

  The simple ceremony began as they stood hand in hand, facing one another under the arch. The justice of the peace recited the vows and before he declared them officially married he made mention that the couple would like to each read something personal.

  Billy began:

  “My dearest Sherry, you came back into my life at a time when I believed that my chance of ever finding true love had already passed. I have never been happier to have been proven wrong. You have brought with you peace and given me a renewed energy. For that, I vow to spend the remainder of my life making every day of your life amazing. I love you Sherry with all of my heart and soul.”

  After taking a moment to compose herself, Sherry recited the following:

  “Billy, I can’t find the words to express the depth of love I feel for you. You are the most amazing man I have ever known and each day I thank God for blessing me with your love. I vow to spend every moment granted to us nurturing our love. You complete me in the most magnific-

  ent way, I love you.”

  The justice of the peace stood silent for a moment. “I now pronounce you husband and wife, and you may kiss your beautiful wife.”

  No-one had to instruct him more than once, Billy took Sherry’s face in his hands and ever so gently pressed his lips to hers. The room was deafeningly silent until their lips parted and then Lisa, Jimmy, and the girls exploded with claps and whistles.

  They enjoyed an unbelievably delicious dinner followed by the cutting of the cake. Classical music played softly in the background, and the adults were having a great time teaching the girls the art of slow dancing. Sherry was not the least bit surprised when “the three little monkeys” as she called them, turned on some really fast music and insisted that they got to teach everybody some more modern dance moves. Billy and Jimmy opted to sit that lesson out, but the girls were all having a great time.

  As the evening wound down the group exchanged their goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot. Jimmy had the family car parked there from earlier in the day so he, Lisa and the girls all piled in to head back to their house.

  Sherry was surprised to see the limousine still parked there. He said with one eyebrow raised, “You didn’t think I was going to let you get away without a honeymoon did you?”

  Sherry responded with a very flirtatious look but then said, “Are you sure you’re up to staying out, I honestly don’t mind if we need to head home?”

  “Not a chance pretty lady. I know it’s not the traditional honeymoon, and I’m sorry for that, but I got us a room in Boston overlooking the skyline, I hope you like it.”

  “It sounds perfect, thank you so much for everything you’ve done to make this an amazing day. I will never forget it.”

  When they arrived at the hotel, the limousine driver stepped out and opened the door for them, and with the professionalism of the secret service, he avoided making eye contact to not disrupt the mood that sparked during the ride. Billy quickly tipped the driver and thanked him for his service while retrieving the overnight bag he had secretly packed for the evening.

  When they entered their room, it was obvious that Billy had made an effort to make the room special for her.

  There was a bottle of champagne chilling on the table, and there was a beautiful crystal vase that displayed a bouquet of white roses.

  The moment the bellhop left the room Billy took Sherry in his arms and began to kiss her with a passion that she had never experienced. Every emotion they had felt over the past few days merged in a frenzy of intense lovemaking. The fear, the love, the urgency all collided creating the perfect storm that one can only describe as consumption; they consumed each other physically, emotionally and spiritually. Knowing their days together were limited only heightened the power of their passion.

  After spending some time wrapped in each other’s arms, Sherry slid out of bed and walked out onto the balcony. “Billy, come look at this magnificent skyline.”

  Billy slipped on his boxers and went to the table and poured two glasses of champagne. When he joined her on the balcony, he handed her a glass and went on to present a toast. “To the most beautiful woman, I’ve ever laid eyes on, may our days be long and full of laughter. May our nights be filled with passion and each day we are blessed with, be filled with love.”

  It took every ounce of strength that Sherry had in her

  to maintain her composure. Despite the beautiful words, she could see the pain in Billy’s eyes, and it was tearing her apart to know that he was suffering. She was determined to make every last minute that he had left, better than the last. Their champagne glasses rang with a gentle tap, and she cuddled up close to him as they admired the Boston skyline.

  18

  A BETTER PLACE

  The days ahead seemed to flow from one right into another. Weeks were passing at what felt like an astounding pace. They spent their evening talking and sharing and most importantly laughing and loving. Billy shared more of the details of his project with Sherry and with each conversation she became that much more supportive of his goal.

  After about six weeks there was no denying there had been a marked change in Billy’s physical appearance. He had most definitely dropped weight, and his skin was very pale. She drove him back and forth to Boston every week to the pain management clinic to have his implant replaced, but it seemed the effects of it were starting to wear off by day three or four
rather than lasting the entire week as they had before.

  He continued trying his hardest to stay attentive to Sherry, but he was growing weaker by the day. By the end of week seven, it had become undeniably clear that Billy needed to be in the hospital. He required around the clock pain medication and could no longer hold his body in an upright position without assistance.

  Sherry gave Lisa a list of items to retrieve from the apartment, and Lisa hurried over to collect them for her. Sherry and Lisa both held a vigil at Billy’s bedside day and night.

  During his stay in the hospital, they did their best to find reasons to laugh. Lisa often excused herself and went for walks around the grounds so they could have time alone. Billy repeatedly refused the offers from the nurses to administer morphine for his pain. He chose to endure the pain to remain as alert as possible so he could help to ease Sherry’s inevitable heartbreak.

  On November 6th Lisa arrived at the hospital with a small Birthday cake she had picked up at one of the local bakery. Although they weren’t allowed to light the candles in the hospital, she still placed two number five candles in the center of the cake to represent Billy’s fifty-fifth birthday. Sherry and Lisa were joined by a few of the nurses, and they all sang Happy Birthday to him. Billy mocked blowing out the candles which made the staff all laugh. Sherry and Lisa just shook their heads and smiled; they were used to his antics.

  Late on the evening of November 11th, Billy gestured with his hand for Sherry to come closer. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips and whispered, “I love you, Billy, forever and for always.”

  Billy’s voice was weak, and she knew it hurt him to speak, but he pushed through the horrendous pain and said, “Sherry you are now and have always been the only true love in my life. Thank you for sharing this journey with me, you made my life a better place.”

  Sherry placed her face alongside his and whispered, “You gave my life meaning Billy, with you gone, it will be a smaller world, and I’ll love it less.” She stayed there, leaned over his bed with their faces pressed together for what seemed like an eternity.

  When Sherry felt Lisa’s hands wrap around her shoulders, she felt herself suddenly go limp.

  Lisa whispered in her sister's ear, “Honey he’s gone, I’m so deeply sorry.” Lisa helped Sherry over to the chair and knelt in front of her. She rested her head on Sherry’s lap. Lisa had never seen Sherry utterly fall apart and she wasn’t sure how to deal with this. True to her character, Sherry sat there consumed with grief and stoked Lisa’s head trying to reassure her that everything would be okay.

  When the nurses came back into the room, they gestured with their eyes to Lisa that they needed to tend to Billy, so Lisa took that as her cue to compose herself.

  “Come on Sherry, walk with me. I think you should come and stay with Jimmy and me for a while. If you prefer I can come and stay with you, I just don’t want you to be alone right now.” Despite Lisa’s sincere concern, alone was how Sherry had dealt with everything in her life, she was no stranger to taking care of herself. She wanted to spend a little time by herself to allow the reality of everything that had happened to settle into her soul.

  “Lisa, he had so much more to offer. There were so many things he still wanted to experience. I just need a little time alone to let this sink in.”

  Over the next week, Sherry did her best to honor all of Billy’s requests. She arranged a simple service honoring his desire to have Moonlight Sonata playing gently in the background. She held the wake for one morning only, as he requested, followed by a simple prayer and the graveside ceremony. She was rather pleasantly surprised at the people who showed up to pay their respects. There were some neighbors, a few distant relatives and a handful of friends. All in all, she was confident that Billy would have been comfortable with how everything was handled and that was all that mattered to her.

  One evening she was sitting on the couch staring blankly at an old television program but completely unaware of what it was even about. When she reached for her phone, she realized that she couldn’t get onto any of her social media accounts.

  “Dear God how could I have possibly forgotten this, it hasn’t been three weeks since he passed?” Then it dawned on her that the last few days that he was home he was too weak to get out of bed. It must have been three weeks since he last updated the system. She sat almost paralyzed with uncertainty. “What happens now?” she said out loud.

  She turned up the television, and all of the news stations were abuzz about the unexplainable social media

  crash. There was speculation that it had terrorist ties as well as the theory that the government was somehow behind this. The theories were flooding in from every news station, and everyone had a different angle to explain it.

  Billy warned her that there would be initial chaos but that she should just go on about her business and let the chips fall where they may. She curled up on the couch and pulled the blanket over her. She hadn’t slept in the bedroom since the day Billy went into the hospital.

  She was awoken the next morning by the doorbell. Sherry stumbled to the door still groggy and peered out through the peek hole. She was surprised to see Lisa standing there, and she quickly opened the door.

  “Morning Lisa is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I just wanted to stop by and check on you. Here

  I brought you a coffee just the way you like it, strong enough to burn the hair off your arms.”

  “I’m glad you woke me up, I have some calls to make to take care of Billy’s affairs.” They sat for a few hours at the kitchen table and talked about how painfully unfair life was at times.

  Lisa made mention of the social media crash, and Sherry brushed it off with a simple, “Heck we’re probably

  better off without it, in the long run. It’s more annoying to me than anything else, but I’m sure they will fix it in no time.” She had no intention of betraying Billy’s trust.

  After Lisa left, Sherry spent the remainder of the day making calls and arrangements to carry out Billy’s final wishes. The attorney returned her call around three thirty that afternoon and informed her that she had contacted the last of the people included in Billy’s estate about twenty minutes earlier and they would all be meeting at her office the following Wednesday afternoon at one o’clock.

  No sooner did she hang up the phone when it rang again. It was Lisa, “Sherry I just got a call from some attorney asking Jimmy and I and the girls to come to her office next Wednesday, something about Billy. Do you know what this is about?”

  “No honey, this is the first I’m hearing about you all needing to be there, but I’m sure it’s nothing. Billy probably figured it would be helpful to me if you guys were all there. I’m sure it’s just a formality Lisa, don’t you worry about anything. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

  When Billy was alive, the days flew by so quickly, and she prayed every day that the clock would just slow down a little. Now that he had passed, she felt as though she could hear every single tick of the clock. She spent most of the next week watching the chaos unfold on every news station. Some of the people were angry about the recent upset in their routine; it appeared to be the only thing people were talking about on the streets, but at least they were talking.

  Interestingly enough though, she was becoming particularly intrigued by how many people seemed glad that all the mainstream social networks had crashed. Granted they were primarily people her age or older, but there were quite a few who thought it was exactly what society needed.

  Wednesday rolled around, and she found herself at a complete loss as to how to get a grip on her emotions. It was a sad day indeed, but she also knew that Billy’s approach to tough situations was just to take a deep breath and rip the bandage off, so she decided to embrace his simple philosophy to get her through the day.

  She arrived at Attorney Wells office, and there were a couple of people waiting outside, but Sherry didn’t recognize anyone, and she was a little more than confused. Lisa a
nd her family had not arrived yet, so Sherry just sat alone

  on the steps.

  When Lisa and Jimmy arrived with the girls, they all gave each other a quick hug and began to walk into the office, everyone else followed along.

  The attorney was professional but also personable, and she immediately put everyone at ease. “Relax everyone, help yourselves to some coffee or bottled water if you like.” The attorney explained, “This is a fairly simple process. I will simply read verbatim what Mr. Reynolds has expressed via his Last Will and Testament.”

  Sherry scanned the room and based on everyone’s expressions she knew they were all confused as to why they were asked to participate in the reading of the Will. The attorney began by reading all of the legal mumbo-jumbo, and everyone sat there very politely but understandably baffled. Attorney Wells read what Billy had conveyed in the document.

  “I want everyone in this room to fully understand that you are here because you matter to me.

  “I realize that none of the people that are sitting in Attorney Well’s office right now know one another so I have chosen to present my wishes less formally so that you might all have the opportunity to know each other a little better.

  “I am leaving the building with the storefront to Amanda Riley who currently works at the storage facility where I stored my mom’s belongings.

  “She has a dream of owning a hair salon at her home so she can continue to care for her two sons Jason and Jared. Amanda, I have set aside enough for you to set up the shop and that coupled with the two apartments upstairs, you should be able to live rent free and rent the other unit for income. A trust has also been established to provide for the boy's college education. I wish you the very best of luck.

  “Though our contact was somewhat limited, you impressed me.”

  With each word the attorney spoke Sherry’s love deepened for him, Billy was such a beautiful soul she thought.