The Coming Tsunami
Mike Penney
- Like
- many
- offspring,
- Paul
- Giessen
- and
- Anna
- May
- Noble,
- are
- drawn
- back
- into
- decisions
- regarding
- their
- respective
- elderly
- fathers
- in
- their
- later
- years.
- Long
- ago
- they
- were
- lovers
- and
- expected
- to
- wed
- but
- –
- inexplicably
- –
- split
- up
- instead.
- For
- over
- three
- decades
- thereafter
- only
- a
- deep
- and
- seething
- hatred
- for
- each
- other
- remains.
Partially
- because
- of
- a
- troubled
- father-son
- relationship,
- Paul
- Giessen
- believes
- his
- father,
- Tim,
- should
- be
- immediately
- dispatched
- to
- a
- nursing
- home
- upon
- learning
- he
- has
- been
- diagnosed
- with
- Alzheimer's
- disease.
- His
- mother
- Wanda
- disagrees,
- believing
- such
- action
- premature
- and
- so
- she
- cares
- for
- Tim
- at
- home.
- In
- the
- months
- that
- follow,
- Wanda's
- chronic
- heart
- condition
- deteriorates
- and
- surgery
- becomes
- a
- necessity.
After
- the
- operation,
- Wanda
- asks
- on
- her
- deathbed
- that
- Anna
- May
- Noble
- promise
- never
- to
- let
- Paul
- "throw
- his
- father
- away
- like
- an
- old
- shoe"
- –
- by
- dumping
- him
- in
- an
- institution
- and
- forgetting
- him
- forever.
- Telling
- no
- one
- of
- her
- promise
- to
- "Auntie"
- Wanda,
- Anna
- May
- and
- her
- father
- Charley
- then
- take
- care
- of
- Tim
- Giessen
- –
- until
- Charley
- Noble's
- unusual
- and
- embarrassing
- dementia
- renders
- him
- incapable
- of
- caring
- for
- his
- best
- friend.
From
- there,
- thwarting
- Paul
- Giessen's
- efforts
- to
- quickly
- dispose
- of
- his
- father
- in
- an
- institution,
- Anna
- May
- quits
- her
- job
- to
- take
- care
- of
- "Uncle"
- Timmy
- fulltime
- and
- fulfill
- her
- deathbed
- promise
- to
- "Auntie"
- Wanda,
- even
- as
- she
- must
- simultaneously
- deal
- with
- her
- father
- Charley
- and
- his
- socially
- devastating
- dementia.
- Paul
- Giessen
- refuses
- to
- relent,
- yet
- in
- the
- end
- Paul
- and
- Anna
- May
- must
- confront
- what
- came
- between
- them
- so
- many
- years
- ago
- and
- somehow
- do
- the
- right
- thing
- for
- their
- fathers,
- Tim
- and Charley.
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