Secrets From The Med

Chapter 16

Paul Sherfey groaned as he sorted through the day's mail. As usual, there was nothing from his daughter. He tossed the envelopes down onto the coffee table and rose from his recliner. Absentmindedly, he walked to his bedroom, where he had a view of the backyard from the window. Kathleen's red knockout roses were already showing off their blooms in the mid May sun and two cardinals were perched on the fence behind them. Cardinals were Kathleen's favorite bird.  Paul's heart was heavy as he stared into the backyard and thought of all the happy memories that had been made there. He thought of the cookouts, volleyball games, and Brad or Kevin chasing Tabitha and Penny with the water hose. Why did it all have to come to an end ? 

He looked up at the ceiling and remembered something that had happened last night. He'd left work at nine o'clock and stopped at the grocery store to buy a bag of sugar to make sweet tea. He picked up the bag and turned to walk to the checkout aisle, then stopped in his tracks. A slow love song had come over the loudspeaker and just a few feet away, an elderly couple, possibly in their early eighties, walked away from their half full shopping cart and began dancing. Paul stood motionless as he watched the man and woman hold each other and move to the rhythm of the music as if they were the only ones in the place. They continued until the song was finished, then returned to their shopping. Paul imagined that they had been childhood sweethearts, gotten married in their late teens, had had several children, and were now enjoying their grandchildren and great grandchildren together. Together.   He'd had to fight back tears as he paid for the bag of sugar.  Kathleen and I were supposed to have been like that.      

He flopped down on the bed, put his head in his hands, and allowed his mind to wander back to where it all began. It was the beginning of his seventh grade year at Edinburgh Junior High School when he noticed a pretty new girl with long black braids. Her name was Kathleen Taber and she had moved to Edinburgh from Lexington with her family over the summer. He and Kathleen had been in the same gym class during their seventh and eighth grade years and he loved watching her run. She had a reputation for being friendly and nice, yet he was sure she would never like a nerdy guy like him. He didn't see much of her during their freshman and sophomore years at Edinburgh High School. That changed their junior year, however, when Paul decided to sign up for home economics because he knew there would be lots of girls in the class. It just so happened that he was assigned to the same table as the  beautiful Kathleen, who now wore her hair long and loose. As the school year progressed, he found himself growing more at ease in talking to her. One day in March he asked her if she would like to go to Calberry's after school. Calberry's was a department store located on the north public square in Edinburgh that had a lunch counter famous for Mexican hamburgers and coleslaw. To Paul's delight, Kathleen accepted his invitation.  He proudly drove her to the store in his 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, which he'd bought recently with money he'd earned working for local farmers. The two of them each ordered the combination that included a Mexican hamburger, fries, coleslaw, and a cherry soda. They comfortably talked and laughed as they sat side by side eating their food. The middle aged woman behind the counter made the comment that they were a cute couple and from that moment on that's exactly what they became. Kathleen had invited him inside to meet her parents and older sister that same afternoon when he drove her home. Her family members had been warm and friendly to him, and he took her to his house to meet his family just a few days later. His father had always said he hoped that any girl Paul dated would be a disciple of Jesus Christ and jokingly added that she would have to be a University of Kentucky Wildcats fan.  He was happy to find that Kathleen was both of those and more. She was well mannered and polite, creative, and generous. Paul milked cows and worked in tobacco for a local farmer that summer and Kathleen cleaned the houses of two elderly widows. When neither of them were working, their time was spent with each other. They went to Calberry's at least one afternoon a week, usually spent Friday evenings at the roller rink, and were at one of the local drive in movie theaters on Saturday nights. They often ate supper at each other's houses and, no matter which house they had eaten at, Kathleen always jumped in and washed and put away the dishes. Paul began to realize back then that Kathleen had a soft spot in her heart for older people and craved knowledge from them. She would spend extra time at the homes of the widows she worked for learning how to knit and crochet and just listening to the women tell stories.