Memory House

by Ruth Hay

  Vilma shivered at the thought. She turned again to the view from her window and saw something that immediately caught her attention. Honor was running through the garden toward Mavis waving a phone in her hand.

  Mavis stopped pruning the dead roses and stripped off her garden gloves.

  There was no way for Vilma to hear their conversation but she could tell there was excitement in the air.

  “Just what I need! A bit of excitement!” she told the dogs. She stopped long enough to pop a pain pill into a doggy treat and present it to Oscar, then she was running to the elevator. She went right down to the lower level and out the glass doors to the back of the garden where Mavis was still speaking on the phone. Honor was bouncing up and down doing one of her yoga exercises while she waited to hear the result. Vilma joined them and decided to stay there. Whatever the news was, it was bound to be better than the morose thoughts she had contemplated for the whole of the last hour.

  Chapter 3

  Mavis was holding the phone away from her ear.

  “Faith! Please stop yelling at me and start from the beginning. Who are these people and what do you want us to do?”

  There was a silence while Faith apparently calmed down and Mavis caught up.

  Vilma tapped Honor on the back and asked what was happening. Honor unrolled herself from a downward dog and answered. “Not sure. It sounded urgent. Faith wanted approval of Hilary or Mavis and I spotted Mavis first.”

  “Approval of what?”

  “It’s who, not what, as far as I can tell. She has some idea about filling one of our empty rooms upstairs.”

  Vilma was intrigued. Harmony House felt incomplete with three rooms empty. She missed the bustle of Jannice going to work every day and returning with stories ‘from the front lines of senior care’ as she expressed it.

  Faith’s youthful energy was a great loss once she figured out how important her success was to all her mentors in the house and knuckled down to pass her exams, thereby changing her world and theirs.

  Eve was no longer in the kitchen painting in the bright light there, or cooking something fragrant and spicy from the recipe books left for her by Mandy and Maureen. Eve’s informal title of “Queen of the Kitchen” was well deserved, but no one had taken her place there when she died.

  Vilma had a sudden longing for one of Eve’s magic muffins. Take-out meals and delivery chicken dinners could not compare with having a real cook in the kitchen.

  “All right then. I get it, Faith! I must talk to Hilary, of course, but I will get back to you as soon as I can.

  Give my best to Melvin and Mason and do keep in touch whenever you can. We love your video clips from your presentations.

  Yes. I promise!

  Goodbye then.”

  Mavis pressed the disconnect button and sat down on the edge of the nearest raised flowerbed scattering pollen all over her white shirt. Honor straightened up and gave Mavis her full attention. Vilma folded her arms impatiently and wished she had brought a hat to shade her face.

  “Honor,” Mavis began, “you can add anything I have misunderstood or forgotten. That girl is in such a rush it’s a wonder she manages to make it to these Youth Advocate talks she does across the country.”

  “Mavis, what did Faith say?”

  “Sorry, Vilma! Let me catch my breath.

  So then, Faith has found two student doctors in her travels and she wants them to come to live in Harmony House while they are studying and working at the London Health Sciences Centre.

  That’s it in a nutshell, I suppose.”

  “But…….who are they, and why does she think they will fit in here with us?”

  Honor took over to give Mavis a break.

  “She told me about these students before. She was very impressed with them when they talked together after one of her university presentations. I think they come from Britain and are studying in Canada on some kind of scholarship scheme. I don’t know what kind.”

  “I presume it’s a medical research project if they are heading to LHSC.”

  “Of course, Vilma! That’s most likely. The only other thing Faith mentioned was that they are young men, friends, and they need a place to stay. Apparently, they are tired of student residences and can pay rent since they have a fellowship grant for accommodation costs.

  Oh, wait! That reminds me. One of them happens to be called Grant. I didn’t catch the name of the other one.”

  “How do you feel about two men about the place, Mavis?”

  Mavis remembered her conversation with Hilary. Two more pairs of hands could help, even if that help was only occasionally. These hands belonged to doctors.

  Honor had not made it known, but she was concerned about three empty rooms in the house that were not providing income. The stock market was going through an unsettling phase, and the Harmony House cash reserves were beginning to run low.

  Vilma hoped the young men would not prove to be allergic to dogs. She also hoped they would lighten up the atmosphere in the house.

  “I will go and talk to Hilary right now. I think she will leave the final decision to me and I am feeling it will be a positive change for us.”

  “Good!” said Honor, who was planning some changes of her own.

  “Fine then!” added Vilma as she gave her approval. She thought, once a decision like this would have required a Sunday House meeting, but now three of the four remaining house residents had assembled in the garden and Mavis’s endorsement would be bound to sway Hilary since that person was not as active as she was a few years before.

  Vilma went back into the house with a lighter step. She had been secretly dreading winter’s arrival in three months or so but now there would be younger and more hopeful voices around the house.

  She had an idea in mind that would require the approval of the household and it needed to be decided before Grant and the other man arrived.

  Chapter 4

  Grant Caskie got a text from Faith Jeffries and sent out a great whoop of delight that immediately summoned Stuart Ingleby to his side.

  “Well? What’s the answer? Good God, man, put me out of my suspense!”

  “It’s a resounding ‘Yes’ Stu! We are out of here as soon as we can book the plane.”

  The good news resulted in an informal highland fling around the tiny floor space in the bedroom, with accompanying whoops and hollers more suited to a ceilidh than the austere quarters of the student residence in Ottawa.

  A banging sound from the adjoining wall of the next-door rooms soon warned them to simmer down and they collapsed onto adjacent beds and smiled happily at each other until they recovered their breath.

  “Now, Grant, exactly what was it Faith said about this Harmony House place? What should we be prepared for?”

  Grant was the chief mover of the pair. He was the one who collared Faith Jeffries before she could escape the university hall where she was giving her biography speech and the subsequent life lessons she had gained from her experiences. Stuart was still ploughing through the crowds who were heading out in the opposite direction. By the time he arrived by the side of his friend, Grant had made his case to Faith.

  “Guys, I can’t promise anything, but I will try. My Aunt Honor is still living there. She will help. Give me your phone info.”

  Stuart produced his phone and quickly transferred their numbers to Faith’s contact list. Faith was immediately pulled away by some student leader who insisted Miss Jeffries’ train was about to leave from the station.

  “Did you tell her we were very impressed by her story?”

  “Indeed!

  “Did you tell her we are heading to London?”

  “Indeed!”

  “Did you say we loved the sound of Harmony House where several generations live and work together?”

  “Indeed I did. And, you can be sure you will also get a chance to talk to her when she calls with more details.”

  “Good enough! Now then, let’s get a start made on packin
g. We will need to send materials on ahead I’m thinking.”

  Grant thought Stuart was being more optimistic than the situation justified. But that was Stuart; always hopeful. It was Stuart who found the online application to study in Canada. He, who convinced his lifelong friend to leave Scotland and go off on this learning adventure with tales of snowy mountains and vast fresh water lakes the size of oceans, and warm summers with colourful autumn weather the like of nothing they ever saw in Glasgow or Edinburgh.

  Grant often thought there was a lot of ambition packed into that compact frame of Stuart’s. His mane of dark hair concealed a brilliant brain for science discoveries. It was that brain that drew them together early in their education years. They may have seemed to others like an unusual pair. Grant towered above his friend and was a true redhead, but their minds melded together in a way that produced better ideas and better solutions than either one could accomplish on his own. Once made, their connection endured. They were inseparable. Female students came and went. They were a temporary distraction. None could sever the close bond for more than a week or two.

  They had the glorious goal of discovering a breakthrough in a medical field neglected and less sexy than most young scientists cared to explore. Stuart’s grandmother had dementia that morphed into Alzheimer’s disease. His entire family, including Stuart and his two sisters, devoted time and energy to supporting the old lady through the early stages of wandering and forgetting. At that time, there was little the medical profession could offer in the way of strategies or medicines to mitigate Grammy’s symptoms. She lived with the Ingleby family until the painful time when she could no longer recognize her nearest and dearest. Amid copious tears and doubt-filled hand wringing, Stuart’s mother committed his Grammy to a locked facility where she continued to deteriorate until her death.

  The family took turns to visit, but the sight of the once-vital old woman, mumbling and dribbling, and fading away day by day, was so demoralizing that it had a profound effect on Stuart. He determined to devote his career to finding relief for Alzheimer patients and their families.

  This was not entirely altruistic. Stuart had to wonder who in his family would be the next to succumb to dementia. The thought of steering either of his parents through the medical minefield of the diseases of the mind was more than he could stomach. He began the long road of qualifying and it was while in the throes of his five-year studies at university that he met Grant Caskie.

  No one could ignore Grant. He was a legend before Stuart first met him. His reputation included a tendency to question his professors and to take the side of students who he perceived were not getting a fair deal with respect to marks or assignments, or compassionate leave, or anything else Grant considered to be their due.

  When the tall, red-bearded Scot stood up to learned professors, the entire class of students was emboldened to clap, or occasionally cheer him on. He was their defender. Had he appeared one day at Glasgow University, clad in kilts to the knee and with a claymore in his hand, no one would have been too surprised. He had the defiant attitude and strong personality of a chief of one of the old clans that terrorised the border country when the Romans roamed Britain.

  Stuart looked up to him. The truth was nearer to an equal amount of brainpower and a physical presence behind which Stuart could shelter, literally, as well as metaphorically. He often claimed his were the brains of their operation and Grant the brawn, while working out his Machiavellian schemes.

  One such scheme resulted in their present venture to London, Ontario, Canada, and the renowned research laboratories of the London Health Sciences Centre.

  Online research had revealed a huge complex of buildings devoted to health in all its aspects. Grant was impressed by the helicopter landing pad near the main hospital. Stuart revelled in the multi- dimensional approach to healing the ills, both physical and mental, of a large swathe of Ontario patients.

  This networking approach, which deftly combined the problem-solving abilities of medical experts from different disciplines, was the only way forward as far as both young doctors could see. The opportunity to be a part of this approach was what drew them to London.

  Now that they had secured positions on just such a team studying mental disorders in the brain-imaging centre of the hospital, and also found a compatible place to stay while in London, their path ahead was set.

  Grant was the one who held his enthusiasm in reserve until they could see this Harmony House set-up for themselves and decide if the house was, in fact, named appropriately.

  Chapter 5

  The house meeting took place on a Sunday in August, two weeks prior to the expected arrival of the two medical students Faith had recommended.

  Vilma ordered in Pad Thai, and the group soon assembled to enjoy the delicious treat. It was immediately obvious to the women that such meetings used to fill all the seats at the kitchen table, but now only Mavis and Hilary, Vilma and Honor were present.

  Vilma began, as soon as they filled their plates and a bottle of white wine was poured to lubricate the proceedings.

  “Good to see everyone together. A toast to us, and our continued successes!”

  Glasses were lifted and sips taken, amid smiles of approval. It was good to be planning as a group again.

  “What we need to decide is where these two young men will stay while they live with us. We have at present several empty spaces to choose from. This is a time when we can consider options.”

  “Options for what?” Mavis and Hilary had already discussed the coming meeting and their opinion was that it was a social occasion, rather than a chance to make changes.

  “Well, Mavis, I have been thinking of a move.”

  There was a moment of stunned disbelief before forks hit plates and three women exclaimed in dismay at the thought of Vilma Smith considering leaving Harmony House.

  “No! No! I don’t intend to leave the house. What I want is to move to one of the empty rooms.”

  This settled her listeners down somewhat, but it was still a shock.

  “Let me explain! You may have noticed how often I am using the elevator when I take my dogs out for their runs.”

  Heads nodded and eyebrows were raised. No one was aware of this being a problem situation.

  “Oscar has developed a severe case of arthritis and there is every chance Astrid may also be similarly affected. I must think ahead on their behalf. I wish to use Faith’s old room by the front door for easier exits. It’s not much smaller than my present quarters and shouldn’t cause any problems unless Faith is intending to resume occupancy.”

  “That does not seem likely, Vilma,” answered Honor. “Faith is travelling a lot and her base is either in Ottawa, or in Kingston with the Jeffries. If she returns to London, we can make other arrangements.”

  “Vilma, I will arrange to move my piano out to the winter dining room. It will give you more space and I think it advisable to get a plumber in to inspect the washroom facilities. Faith was a bit haphazard about maintenance.”

  Mavis chuckled to take any sting out of her comment. Honor understood the necessity of the upgrade and smiled back at Mavis.

  Vilma looked at the others to see if they had any objections. Before she could thank them and conclude the discussion, Honor spoke up again, and Hilary raised her hand at the same time.

  “You first, Hilary!”

  “Jannice has been in touch with me. She is in Toronto with Mitchell for several months but she wants to know the feeling of the group if she retains her old room for occasional visits with Mitchell while they are in the process of deciding where to live more permanently.”

  “Does this mean those two are thinking of getting married?”

  “She did not say that specifically, Honor, but it is something that might happen. How do we feel about this in general?”

  “As Jannice continues to pay her monthly bill, the room is hers for as long as she wishes, as far as I can see. It does remove her room from the choices for t
he two young men, however.”

  While Mavis’s comment was still sinking in, Honor took her turn.

  “All right! It’s best to get everything out in the open now. I should make it clear that Jared Pace has proposed marriage to me.”

  “Oh, Honor, that is wonderful news!”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Goodness, me! This is a surprise! Another toast is in order.”

  Vilma poured more wine and went off to find a second bottle while the remaining women continued to ask for details.

  “Will you accept, Honor?”

  “Well, at least you won’t need to change your name if you do accept!”

  The meeting now became a happy event reminiscent of some of the joyous occasions celebrated in the early days of Harmony House.

  Mavis realized they needed just such a spirit lifter.

  Hilary was confused for a moment. Who was this Jared again?”

  Vilma found a bottle and poured liberally, once Honor acknowledged that she was inclined to formalize her association with Jared.

  “But, hold on for a minute, ladies! There are still a couple of issues to be resolved. I am glad of your approval, of course.” Honor took a gulp of wine and followed it with a deep breath.

  “Would you be willing for Jared and me to take over one of the empty rooms in addition to my work space in the lower level? I would pay the extra rental amount but it might be fairer for you to ask for the full contract sum to retain the space.”

  Hilary caught the legal implication of this request and jumped in before Mavis could respond.