ROLLING STONE | A 50 OVER 50 STORY

Part Three

Grieving was a strange thing.

Gladys felt crippled by it for weeks as her mind and heart processed so many memories with new information. There was sadness about her husband feeling the necessity to live a double life but also anger at his selfishness.

Ultimately, he got everything he wanted.

Three weeks after Bobby's funeral, Gladys went through her home and gently packed things that were special to her.

There were hand-painted ornaments from her mother, a wooden angel carved by her grandfather, two quilts made by her grandmother, and delicate glass figures Bobby gifted her every year on their anniversary.

She kept every photo, every card given to her on birthdays and Christmas, but she packed them away.

Going through the items left behind by her kids caused a lot of smiles and a few tears. She carefully boxed their keepsakes to be shipped to their homes.

Selecting Bobby's two most expensive watches, she set them aside for Leland and her new son-in-law. Her daughter would receive her grandmother's wedding set. Carole was getting the tennis bracelet Bobby bought Gladys a few days after their fight about the RV.

It felt tainted now.

Most of her jewelry went into a velvet bag that would live in a safety deposit box until after her death. She updated her will, her life insurance policy, and left detailed instructions about everything on top of the box.

Gathering all Bobby's suits, casual wear, and accessories, she drove them to the church on the night of men's Bible study. Each of the men stood when she entered and murmured gentle hellos.

"I have several boxes of Bobby's clothes in the car," she told them. "I thought y'all might be able to use them or know someone who could. His-his appearance was always important to him and I made sure his outfits were quality." She twisted her fingers together. "I don't mean to interrupt."

The young pastor approached and took her hand. "No, ma'am. You aren't interrupting. We're happy to help unload the car and there are several men in the congregation about Bobby's size that will be grateful for the clothes. Thank you for thinking of them, Gladys."

She nodded and waited along the wall. The drive home felt lighter and she knew she was making the right choices.

Once the personal effects were packed away, donated, shipped, or stored, she hired a professional appraiser. Once she knew the value, she sold everything room by room.

Furniture, appliances, knickknacks, fine china, and artwork.

Bobby's tools, the rest of his watch collection, jewelry, and electronics went for far more than she expected. As did the coins she never knew he collected.

The more she purged, the more she realized Bobby had invested thousands of dollars every year on expensive items. Gladys never knew.

She'd always thought him frugal.

His 1970 Mercedes with less than fifteen-thousand miles on it turned out to be the most valuable asset in her possession. He'd only driven it on special occasions.

She sold it for more than four-hundred-thousand dollars. It didn't escape her notice that Leland had been willing to take it off her hands for free mere days after his father's death.

By the time Bobby had been gone for a month, the house was empty outside her bedroom. That contained a bed frame, a mattress, and a milk crate with a cracked lamp on it. She had the whole place deep-cleaned from the attic to the basement.

The RV was the only thing that remained in the workshop. A lovely group of cleaning women sterilized it from front to back and stripped away every item that was porous.

One of the young men from the church helped her install a new mattress and showed her how the camper functioned.

Gladys practiced driving it around town for a week to get a feel for the size and weight. Renting a spot at a local campground, she tested herself on working the electrical and sewer system.

Listing her house on the market, her agent held an open house and received offers the same day. It was a big home, well cared for in a beautiful old neighborhood, but Gladys was shocked at how quickly it sold.

By the time all was said and done, there was more than three million dollars in her accounts with Bobby's life insurance, her own savings, and the fire sale of their marital assets. She had her teaching pension so she figured she'd spend or give most of it away before she died.

Her kids would receive her life insurance and whatever was left. She didn't give a tinker's damn if they liked it.

Everything she still owned went into the camper. It was freshly stocked with food, linens, and emergency items.

In a hidden safe under the RV floor, she placed the cash she'd found in the workshop as well as her passport and living will just in case.

Eight weeks after Bobby's death, Gladys drove away from her old life and headed west.

A trip that was long overdue.

© Shayne McClendon