The Old House

Delores and I went to Montevallo to begin the difficult discussion with Walter of, "What are we going to do when you need more help than Mary and Roy can give you?" Allison, the caring and insightful hospice nurse, was at Walter's when I was there two weeks ago. She told me that it would not be long before he was going to need help most, if not all, of the time and suggested that we begin planning in that direction. I thought about our options on my drive home and decided to ask Delores if she thought Kathy and James (her daughter and her husband) would be interested in moving to Montevallo to take care of him. He could pay them a nice salary to supplement James's retirement and still be less than half of what he would have to pay based on most any other scenario: hiring people to rotate through 24/7 through an agency, hiring individuals to do shifts, or hiring someone as a live-in. James is going to be discharged from the Army as soon as his recuperation at Walter Reed is finished, probably in two months or so. Kathy is a stay-at-home mom and is the perfect temperament for taking care of old people, patient and kind. Delores mentioned the possibility to Kathy and she was quite excited. It seems like an almost perfect fit. Kathy and James wanted to move to a rural area after he retired anyway and James can't do physical labor for at least a year after his surgery.

The main problem that we saw was about where they could live. Walter is very peculiar about his house. He designed it and is very proud of and attached to it. Right after Jackie died her brother, Kenneth, moved in with Walter to help take care of him. Kenneth stayed about three months until Walter accused him of being a mooch. His words were something like, "I'm not running a flop house." We were reluctant to bring up the subject of them staying with Walter in his house even though the house has two stories, one with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large bonus room, which Walter can't get to any longer because of the stairs. He lives downstairs where there is one bathroom, a den, kitchen, dining room, living room, and office-turned-bedroom. We were trying to come up with alternative living arrangements for Kathy and James where they would still be close enough to Walter to be available on a moment's notice 24 hours a day.

That is what brings me to the "Old House." There is an old house that Walter had moved from the site where his house now sits to a spot about 100 yards from his house. This is the house that my parents and sister and I lived in while the house where I grew up was being built. Part of the house is Antebellum. Delores, Walter and I went out there yesterday so he could tell us about the house and Delores and I could see what kind of shape it was in so to determine if it was an option for Kathy, James and Fiona, their three-year-old, to live in while taking care of Walter. There is a front porch on the house that was added when it was moved to its present location. The front porch is where another room used to be, but was in too bad a shape to move with the rest of the house. The house was built in several sections at different times. The room that is on the front of the house to the left of the door on the porch is part of the original house, which Walter believes was built in 1840. There is no proof of the exact date. The original room of the house is built with post and beam construction, which shows that it was built before the Civil War. The majority of the house was built after "the War" meaning the Civil War. The older parts of the house were built with square nails. I remember seeing those from my childhood. When my immediate family lived in the house the front porch was where the side of the house is now. The original front door with glass side lights is still there, but now it is inside the added-on room instead of off the front porch.

Inside the Old House

There has been a bathroom added into the house as well as a sink and refrigerator in a rough kitchen. Walter said the water has been run to the house, but was never hooked up to the house. It is a small matter to get the plumbing finished in the house. There would have to be a septic tank put in before the bathroom would be usable. There is electricity throughout the house. Roy has been painting in the house using paint that is called "white wash" but is actually paint and costs $50 per gallon according to Walter.

Delores and I walked through the house piecing together memories of our time living in the Old House. The wind would whistle through the house which was creepy to little girls at night. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. We both remembered the book shelves that were right inside the front door that held our much-loved Worldbook Encyclopedias. I remembered the Christmas that we spent in that house and where the Christmas Tree had stood in the living room. I remembered that I got a convertible car for my Barbie doll  that year. I believe that was also the year that I had pneumonia and couldn't go to Mammaw's house for Christmas, so Momma pulled me around the old house in a red wagon to entertain me while everybody else was at Mammaw and Poppa's. Delores remembered sitting in front of the window fan reading her books in the summer. We remembered the old tree that we played under that has since fallen after being struck by lightening. We all three sat on the front porch for a while to let Walter rest before going back to the big house. It was quite pleasant there with a nice breeze.

The Old House is in the background of this photo.

Delores and I were both surprised when I started the difficult discussion about what Walter wanted to do in the next step of his life. He quickly agreed that Kathy and James coming to take care of him sounded like a good idea. Even more of a surprise was when it was his idea that they live in his house. He said, "It seems such a waste if they didn't live here in this big house." So it seems that is the direction we are headed. Next weekend Delores and I are going to start the process of packing up pieces of Jackie and Walter's lives that are stored in the upstairs so that room can be made for next and, probably, last phase of Walter's life.

 The family land, the big house, the old house, his books, the photographs, the history, all these things are so important to Walter. He is the holder of our family history. I want to hold on to him and all that he holds forever, but I know it will not be possible for much longer.