The Survivor

Nothing particularly distinguishes them
from among a gathering of other couples
whose life together now spanned over four
pleasant decades. In his retirement they
re-optioned the semi-nomadic lifestyle
to which they had become accustomed
by making their home in a long, shiny
household-equipped trailer. Allowing
them to live as they so preferred; sunny
summer months in Canada, vile winter
months south of the then-relaxed border.

It was while whiling away the pleasant
time in Florida that his first intimations of
mortality knocked at the door of his frail
heart. Swiftly followed by a long drive north,
he reclining, she negotiating the highways
home with growing confidence in her
abilities and blithe denials of the constant
manoeuvring suggestions he had always
loathed when emanating from her lips.

Soon came knee, then hip replacements,
and long convalescences, when she was able
to assert what he had always suppressed.
Mobilizing from deep within resources she
scarce knew she still possessed. She tended
him scrupulously and tenderly as a heart
bypass noted his swift deterioration. Their
trailer long sold for a modest apartment, and
a long shiny Cadillac, which she now drove
irritatingly exclusively, he secretly moaned.

Still taking long, seasonal trips, but now to
visit with a daughter and grandchildren
living in Washington State, and to another
daughter and grandchildren living in Ottawa.
He, now an almost-mute companion, drained
of muscular confidence, a shell of the
commanding figure who once dominated
her life. His pacemaker aside, medical
specialists cannot diagnose his sudden,
frequent collapses into unconsciousness
as his heart seeks to outspeed what time is
now left to that half of the long companionship.

As for her, the former meek and biddable
trophy wife, once a hairdresser by profession,
beauty queen by arch design, who readily
accepted the benefits of heeding orders - she is
as she always appeared. Daintily slim, and
artfully poised, hair still coiffed and brassy
blonde, laughter readily peeling, tinkling
off her pearly teeth, at last truly enjoying life.