Dear Reader,
Congratulations to Elizabeth Janice!
I'm pleased to announce that Elizabeth's entry in this year's Write a DearReader Contest, is one of my Honorable Mention pieces. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your visits, a friendship and a beautiful story.
Every Sunday, for nearly three years, I spent my afternoons with Victoria, an elderly woman who lived alone in New York City. These visits were part of a program that matched homebound seniors with volunteer "friendly visitors."
"Hi, Victoria. It's me," I would call out as I opened her front door. She was always "Victoria"--no nicknames--a lady with soft red hair (even in her early 90s, all grays were covered) and pale green eyes that lit up when she saw me. A former actress and dancer, Victoria relished the limelight and hated being alone. To pass the endless hours at home, she watched a lot of television, everything from "Friends" reruns to talk shows. With no children or other family members, she depended on strangers to be her connection to the outside world. "I've outlived everybody I once knew," she sometimes bemoaned. But then her face would brighten: "I'm lucky to have new friends like you. Can you imagine--at my age! I'm truly blessed."
Home was a cramped one-bedroom apartment on one of Manhattan's busiest streets. Every spare inch was crammed with photographs and souvenirs from her world travels. The pictures on her bedroom dresser presented a visual timeline of her life: a smiling baby with chubby cheeks...a pretty teenager with wavy hair that fell past her waist...a vivacious young woman showing off her dance moves at a party...a middle-aged lady lounging on a far-away beach.
Victoria, an only child, was raised by a single mother (an early 20th-century stage mom). At 16, she made her Broadway debut. As she got older, she also indulged her wanderlust, cruising to Europe, Australia, South America and the Caribbean. On a trip to Buenos Aires, she met her future husband, a British executive. They settled there for over a decade and Victoria learned to speak fluent Spanish, before returning to New York.
By the time we met, the once curvaceous Victoria weighed less than 100 pounds. "You must eat more," I always urged, but she hated dining alone. Weak with arthritis, Victoria used a walker to navigate her apartment. On rare occasions, she would go outside with her nurse's aide pushing her in a wheelchair. But first, she would put on a hat, gloves, jewelry and bright red lipstick. "A lady always has to look her best," she would say quite seriously. "You never know when you might meet a gentleman."
During our visits, we stayed inside, drinking tea and sharing cookies and ice cream. Victoria chatted about her travels and her foreign friends. Her favorite vacation spot was Cuba, "the most beautiful island in the world." She introduced me to dulce de leche, the Latin American treat. I found myself confiding in her, revealing things I didn't tell anyone else. Victoria had strong opinions about everything. Sometimes we disagreed. But mostly we laughed.
Our visits settled into a comfortable rhythm, week after week. Then suddenly, just before her 95th birthday, Victoria suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. Days later, she was gone. Six people, including me and the nurse's aid, attended her funeral. Victoria was laid to rest next to her mother, in an unmarked grave, and her apartment was quickly put on the market.
Long afterwards, I would walk past her building and gaze up at the sixth floor, where Victoria had lived for over half a century. Although she rarely ventured out in her later years, the bustling streets of Manhattan still seem oddly empty at times. I became a volunteer to help brighten the life of a lonely senior citizen. But in the winter of her life, Victoria welcomed me into her world and a way of life that no longer exists--when friends got together for afternoon tea parties and a lady wouldn't dream of stepping outside without putting on pearls, perfume and her favorite lipstick.
Elizabeth Janice
Honorable Mention, 2019 Write a DearReader Contest
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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