Hardly Heaven - A Different Kind of Dying

A Different Kind of Dying Part 3

You could call dinnertime a culinary experience, but not an enjoyable one. Sam wondered just how old and decrepit you had to be to appreciate a plate full of strained peas. Dinnertime did however signal the approach of Sam's favorite time of day - his visit with Eleanor. In the 5 months since he had come to BNH, his time with Eleanor was the only thing that had put a smile on his face. It was fair to say that it was what kept him putting one foot in front of the other.

Eleanor sat limply in her wheelchair, tucked neatly into a corner of the solarium. 'What a joke', thought Sam, one window and two dying azaleas were BNH's idea of a solarium, but Eleanor could brighten any room, even this one. She was his beacon, guiding him through rough seas and Sam thanked God for that.

"Hello there, gorgeous," Sam cooed from across the room. Eleanor flinched involuntarily; a product of her body's disease. She had been struck with Multiple Sclerosis and Epilepsy in her 40's. The diseases progressed rapidly, leaving Eleanor with the barest measure of control over her body and its movements.

Eleanor grimaced in what Sam interpreted as one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. For a woman who had so little to smile about, she sure did it a lot. Sam stood before her and reached down to cup her chin in his rough hand. "There's the face I've been missing all day. Have I told you before that your face is shaped just like a heart and it melts mine? Every time I close my eyes I can see your smoky blue eyes looking at me. It's the only thing that keeps me going."

 "Oh Sam," Eleanor managed. Her diseases had not affected her power to blush and the pink spread quickly across her cheeks. "Hooooow ws ur dayyyyy hndsmme."Speaking was a challenge for Eleanor, but she would not have missed these exchanges. He was, in many ways, all that she had left. Eleanor had come to BNH at the age of 43, when her family had decided that they could not deal with her rapid degeneration. Since that time, her husband and two sons' regular visits had dwindled to special occasions and birthdays, and then to just Christmas, then finally, nothing. Eleanor had not seen her family in ten years. It almost made Sam wish that he had been here ten years ago. He would have liked to meet Eleanor's husband. Sam would only need about twenty minutes with him in a locked room. Just enough time to introduce the jerk to the twins, Righty and Lefty. 

"How's my best girl today," Sam asked?