by Ted Onulak

Created on: July 11, 2009

As I sipped my coffee and skimmed the paper, I heard the slow, deliberate tread of Marie descending the stairs. It's funny what information you can glean from sound. You could actually hear the hand of the rather chubby 80-year old woman gripping and sliding along the stair rail. She had dress shoes on as a faint click accompanied the soft squeak of the wooden stairs.

'How do I look?', she asked as a sly smile played on her round face and the huge glasses balanced on the edge of her nose magnified the twinkle in her eyes. She looked like a large glowing goldfish and moved just as slowly and serenely.

'You look like a million bucks!' I said with approval. She actually did look nice. She wore a salmon twin set and neat white slacks and white shoes, all complimenting her tropical fish appearance.

'What's the occasion?'

'You know what? I got a boyfriend!', she was beaming with pride.

My Dad, who had been the only man in her life, had passed away almost 10 years ago and she had moved in with my wife and me only last year. She was one of those people that had a tremendous life force. One of the many remarkable things about her was that she didn't have one of those quavering old lady voices, but always spoke up loud and clear. Too loud and clear, for the most part. To people brought up in a normal family, it probably sounded a lot like yelling.

I couldn't resist teasing her a bit, so I started to act like the father of a teenaged daughter.

'Who is this young man, and what are his intentions? These men are only out for one thing, you know.'

'He's not like you were, when you were a boy! He's a real gentleman! Do you know he was a Commander in the Navy', she exclaimed with pride. 'He's 91, though', she said thoughtfully.

'I guess that rules out any funny business, I said as I smiled from the corner of my mouth. I used to do that a lot when I was ribbing her, because she always told me it reminded her of my Dad. I was sure that there wouldn't be any 'business', funny or otherwise. But of course she would have the last word.

I don't knowdon't they have this Viagra now?'. The mental picture put me right off my freshly ground Brazilian blend!

She had met 'the Commander' at the Senior Center, which she attended every day. Only lately, she had taken to dolling herself up. She raved and raved about the man. Apparently, his wife passed away almost 20 years ago, and he shuttled between his two daughters,

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