The Back Nine: A Novel About Life After Fifty

by E. A. Briginshaw

  * * *

  It was about an hour later when Amanda and Doug arrived to pick up Tyler and Elizabeth. Ray had gone home to get them because he wanted them to see what Tyler could do.

  All of the other kids had already gone home, but Tyler was still out on the range. Max had spent the rest of the morning working with Tyler. With his parents watching, Max showed how Tyler could hit short irons or long irons. He had even shown Tyler how to put a ball on a tee so he could hit a driver.

  His mother, Amanda, had tears in her eyes.

  His father was bursting with pride. “I didn’t know he could do anything like that,” he said.

  Max turned and whispered to them. “Sometimes, I think it’s good to see the spectrum differently. I think we all get too focused on what he can’t do, rather than trying to discover what he can.”

  * * *

  As Max drove his father back home after their long day at the golf course, he noticed his father was being awfully quiet.

  “What are you thinking about?” Max asked.

  “I was wrong,” his father said.

  “About what?”

  “All these years, I thought that those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. I thought you’d never reached your full potential, that you should have been a touring pro. But when I saw you with those kids today, I saw what a good teacher you are.”

  “Well, Tyler’s a special case. I can’t take credit for him.”

  “Not just with him. I saw how you worked with all of the kids and their parents. I think maybe you’re exactly where you should be.” He turned to look at Max. “I’m proud of you.”

  Max had been waiting his whole life to hear that.

  Chapter 20: Black Friday

  The following Friday, Cheech showed up for his golf game with Ray Ferguson and Bruce Thompson. He headed toward the blue tees, the ones they normally used.

  “Hold up there,” Bruce shouted to him. “We’re back here today. It’s Black Friday.”

  Riverview had five sets of tees on each hole, with each set in a different colour. Golfers were advised to play from whichever tee suited their ability. The red tees were the farthest forward and used to be referred to as the ladies tees, but male members who were over eighty years old also used them. The white tees were a little farther back and were used by the players who couldn’t hit the ball very far. About a third of the guys normally played from those tees, but a few of the ladies who were good golfers also preferred to play from the whites. The blue tees were a little further back and were used by most of the men. Even further back were the gold tees.

  The black tees were where professionals or top amateurs would play from and this was sometimes referred to as “playing from the tips”. These tees were rarely used, but a few of the guys had started playing from them on Fridays. It became known as “Black Friday”.

  As Cheech stood on the first tee, he quickly realized the course looked entirely different from the black tees. The sand trap on the left side of the fairway that he would normally clear with ease suddenly became a problem. He aimed his tee shot to the right to avoid the trap. His second shot came up short of the green and he ended up making a bogey. In fact, he made bogies on four of the first five holes.

  “I’m not sure I’ll break a hundred from back here,” Cheech said when they reached the sixth tee.

  “It certainly takes some getting used to,” Bruce said, “but it’s fun to challenge yourself sometimes.”

  Ray took that as his cue. “Speaking of challenging yourself, we were wondering why you haven’t tried qualifying for the Challenge Cup team yet. We could sure use you on the team this year.”

  “You think I’m good enough to make the team?”

  “You should make it easily,” Bruce said. “You’re given three chances to qualify and they take your best two rounds out of three.”

  “We don’t have to play from the tips when we qualify, do we?”

  “No. You can use whatever tees you want. Most of the guys play from the blues.”

  For the next few holes, both Bruce and Ray continued to encourage him to try out for the team.

  “It’s really important to Max,” Bruce said. “Blackhawk Ridge has kicked our ass for the last few years and Max wants to turn it around. It’ll be even harder this year with Stryker playing for them.”

  As they continued playing, Cheech started getting used to playing the course from the tips. He had made a string of pars and even managed to make a birdie on the par five thirteenth hole.

  “Now this is a scary shot,” Cheech said when he reached the fifteenth tee. When he played this hole from the blue tees, he would normally hit an iron off the tee to make sure he found the fairway. There was a huge water hazard in front of the tee that extended down the left side. Out of bounds was down the right side. From the black tees, Cheech knew he’d have to hit a long straight drive just to hit dry land. “I don’t normally do well on these pressure shots.”

  “I find the key is to visualize a positive outcome,” Bruce said to encourage him. “Then just grip it and rip it.”

  “These are the shots that really test what you’re made of,” Ray said. “So let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Cheech closed his eyes and imagined his tee shot clearing the water and landing in the fairway. Then he confidently stepped up to the ball and hit a perfect tee shot. It easily cleared the water and bounded down the fairway.

  “Geez that felt good,” Cheech said. “I wish I could hit them all like that.”

  “I knew you could come through under pressure,” Bruce said.

  Cheech was absolutely pumped. “You can tell Max I’m going to try out for the team.”

  * * *

  Jessica had arrived at around seven that morning for her shift at Shady Oaks. One of her duties was to help the residents get out of bed, get dressed and ready for breakfast. She enjoyed this part of the day as most of the elderly residents were at their best in the mornings. Some woke up as early as four-thirty, so were already dressed by the time she arrived.

  “It’s time to rise and shine,” she said when she entered Shirley’s room. She was surprised to see that Shirley was still in bed. She was normally one of the early risers.

  Jessica pulled the curtains open and sunshine spilled into the room. When Shirley didn’t move or make a sound, Jessica immediately knew something was wrong. She pulled the cord beside the bed to call for assistance.

  Elena arrived a few seconds later and immediately assessed the situation. “Call the doctor.”

  Jessica froze. She heard Elena’s instructions, but for some reason, couldn’t move.

  Elena reached over and pushed the button for the intercom. “We need a doctor in room 18, stat.”

  Jessica still couldn’t move. She watched Elena check Shirley for vital signs. There didn’t appear to be any.

  A few minutes later, the doctor arrived and took over trying to revive Shirley, to no avail. Several other staff also appeared.

  “Get her out of here,” Elena said, pointing at Jessica.

  Emily, one of the other volunteers, took Jessica’s elbow and led her out of the room. She walked her to a small loveseat that was just down the hallway and helped her sit down.

  Since Jessica had been working for several months at Shady Oaks, this was not the first medical emergency she had seen. A few residents had even died. But this was the first time Jessica had been the first to discover the body. Sure, she never seemed to remember Jessica’s name, or anyone else’s for that matter, but Shirley had always taken a shine to her. And because no family ever came to visit Shirley, Jessica spent extra time with her and she had become her favourite resident.

  Jessica watched as several people came and went from Shirley’s room: Elena, the doctor, and then a priest. A few of the other residents stopped by and tried to peer into Shirley’s room, but they were quickly led away. Jerry seemed particularly upset when he arrived and went into her room. A little later on, someone from the funeral
home arrived to remove the body. Jessica continued to sit in the hallway watching, seemingly unable to move.

  Elena came over and sat down beside her. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay, a little numb.”

  “That’s to be expected. I know you’d grown quite close to Shirley.”

  “Yeah, I suppose I shouldn’t do that, cause it hurts too much when they go.”

  “It just means you care and that’s the most important thing. I think that’s why you’re going to be a great nurse. These are people, not just patients.”

  Jessica wiped away the tears on her cheeks. “Does it ever get any easier?”

  “I wish it did. If it does, then it probably means it’s time to move on and do something else.”

  Jessica sighed. “Shirley was such a sweetheart. I think I was drawn to her even more because she didn’t have any family around her.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Elena took Jessica’s hand. “Here, come with me.”

  She led her down the hall to Shirley’s room. Inside, Jerry was starting to gather up all of Shirley’s belongings. He reached inside one of the cupboards and pulled out a small bag that had some small framed pictures inside it. He pulled one out that looked to be about twenty years old and stared at it.

  “Is that you in the picture with Shirley?” Jessica asked.

  Jerry turned, his eyes red from tears. “Yes, yes it is.”

  Elena touched Jessica’s shoulder. “You see, Shirley wasn’t alone. She did have her family around her. Jerry’s her husband.”

  “But, but…” Jessica stammered in confusion. “I thought you were just one of the volunteers.”

  “That’s the cruel thing about dementia,” Elena said. “When Shirley first came to us, Jerry used to visit her every day. So did a lot of her friends. But after a while, she stopped remembering who they were. The friends stopped coming, but Jerry always came. It used to upset Shirley when we told her she was married to Jerry because she didn’t remember him. Eventually, we decided to just tell her he was one of our volunteers.”

  “I could tell the two of you had some kind of chemistry together,” Jessica said. “But how could that be if she didn’t even know who you are?”

  “I can’t explain it,” Elena said. “Maybe it’s because the heart always remembers, even if the brain doesn’t.”

  Jessica turned toward Jerry. “It must have been so hard for you. Did she not remember you at all?”

  “Most of the time, no, but every now and then something would trigger her memory.”

  Jessica thought for a second. “Like with the snow globe.”

  “Yes, the Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. That’s where we had our wedding reception.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “When people knew, they were always trying to get her to remember things from her past,” Elena said. “That just got her more and more upset. Eventually, we decided to tell people that Jerry was just a volunteer here. There were only a few of us who knew the whole story.”

  Jessica turned to Jerry and gave him a hug. “I’m so sorry for you. What are you going to do now?”

  “The funeral will be next week. Then I’m going to take Shirley home to Saskatchewan. After that, I don’t know.”

  “Well you’re always welcome here,” Elena said.

  * * *

  Jerry ran the chamois over the camper-van one last time before backing it out of the garage. Shirley’s funeral had been held just over a week ago and it was time to take her ashes back home to Saskatchewan. Jerry had decided to drive rather than fly. This was the trip they had always talked about taking when Jerry retired, something that he’d continually delayed, trying to work a few extra years to top up his pension. He now realized that the time they’d lost was worth much more than the extra money. By the time he finally retired, her health had already started to go downhill.

  He glanced over to the passenger seat to see the urn with her ashes securely fastened in by the seat belt. He had placed a pillow on the seat to make her ride more comfortable and also so she’d sit a little higher. He now regretted the times he had teased her about being “vertically challenged”.

  He headed north up through the Muskokas, describing the pink and grey outcroppings of granite, the towering trees and the sparkling lakes to Shirley along the way. When he reached Sudbury, he made sure to show Shirley the “Big Nickel”, the 30-foot replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel before finding a motel for the night.

  He woke up early the next morning and continued on to Wawa, where he showed her the huge statue of a majestic Canada Goose. Their next stop was in White River, the birthplace of the famous bear, Winnie the Pooh. Jerry continued the drive each day through the rest of Ontario and Manitoba, describing what he saw to his wife along the way.

  When he reached Saskatchewan, he headed up through Saskatoon. He decided to spend the night in the Bessborough Hotel for old times’ sake.

  The next day, he headed north through Prince Albert toward Emma Lake. It was a hot summer day and the beach was filled with kids and their families swimming and playing games in the clear water. Jerry parked the camper-van under a tree and listened to the sounds of people having fun.

  In the late afternoon, the heat and humidity built up into a series of thunderstorms. The beach was quickly evacuated, with the patrons racing home to their cabins or campers. Jerry stayed right where he was. The sound of the rain on the roof of the camper-van seemed soothing.

  After the storm was over, Jerry carefully undid the seat belt, picked up the urn and walked down toward the dock. The storm had chased most people away, so there was hardly anyone around.

  He headed into the little store on the dock that sold ice cream, drinks and candy. They also rented out canoes and small boats.

  “How much to rent a small boat?” Jerry asked the kid behind the counter. The kid looked to be about sixteen years old with spiked hair and far too many tattoos on his arms.

  “No more rentals today,” the kid said without even looking up. “Cuz of the storm.”

  An older man who was busy restocking the fridges with pop looked up to see Jerry. He noticed the urn under Jerry’s arm. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Jerry didn’t answer the question. “I just need a boat, any kind of a boat, just for a little while. I won’t be long.”

  The kid behind the counter still didn’t look up. “No more rentals today,” he repeated.

  Jerry looked at the older man. “Please.”

  The man placed the last of the cans of pop in the fridge. “You can take the row boat at the end of the dock.”

  “Thank you,” Jerry said. “How much?”

  The man just waved his hand. “Just take it.”

  Jerry nodded his thanks and headed out of the store. He placed the urn on the edge of the dock while he climbed down into the boat. He untied the rope from the mooring and then carefully retrieved the urn and placed it in between his feet on the bottom of the boat.

  It had been years since he’d rowed a boat, but he quickly got the hang of it again. He rowed out into the lake and then headed towards a little alcove that seemed like the perfect place. He remembered how Shirley had said that the lake was the perfect place to get away from it all, the perfect place to think, the perfect place to rest.

  They had agreed years ago that they both wanted to be cremated and their ashes scattered, not stuck in a jar or buried in the ground. He opened the top of the urn and paused. He felt like he should say a prayer or something, but he wasn’t a religious man, so he had no idea what to say.

  He slowly poured the ashes into the water and watched as they floated away. Then he dropped the urn over the side and into the water. He never felt so alone in his life. She had been the love of his life and now she was gone. How would he ever go on without her?

  He sat in the boat for quite a while, not making a sound. Finally he found the strength to pick up the oars and started rowing back towards the dock.
As he got out of the boat, he looked back out into the lake. The storm had now passed and the setting sun glistened over the lake. That’s why they called it Sunset Bay. As the mist rose, a rainbow appeared over the little alcove. It was only there for a few seconds before it was gone again. It was almost as if the heavens had reached down and pulled her up.

  Shirley had come home.

  Chapter 21: The Rescue Club

  When Jerry arrived back in Ontario, he spent several days just sitting around the house. Although he had lived in the house alone for several years, ever since Shirley had moved to Shady Oaks, it seemed even quieter than ever now. It took him a few days to realize that the clock in the kitchen above the sink had stopped. The steady tick-tock indicator of time marching on had been silenced. Batteries must have died. He didn’t feel stable enough to stand on a chair to reach up and put new ones in. He felt like the earth was shifting underneath his feet.

  A few days later, he headed into Shady Oaks. Elena had called inviting him back, saying all of the residents and staff had been asking about him. But when he got there, he simply made the rounds to say goodbye to everyone. There were too many painful memories to return to work there. He knew his days volunteering at Shady Oaks were over. He returned home, alone, again.

  He wished they’d had kids. At first, Jerry had put it off saying he wanted to get his life in order first. Get a good job, buy a house, save some money. You know, build a stable environment before bringing a kid into the world. Shirley had been so patient with him, willing to wait until everything was perfect. When they finally decided it was time to “pull the goalie” and try to have a baby, it just never happened. They figured it was never meant to be. It didn’t matter; they’d have each other for the rest of their lives, right?

  Wrong.

  It was a few days later when Jerry heard a knock on his door. He was surprised to see who it was.