The Return of Evelyn

About Howard

At right: Ev disembarks after being chauffeured by Eddie from Albany International Airport.

She comes north! She goes back south! Then north again; then south again! Where will jet-setter Evelyn Sedarbaum eventually decide to settle?

At age 94 it hasn’t been easy for Eddie’s newly-widowed mom to decide where she wants to put down her post-Harold roots, and she’s changed her mind already several times.

Is she prepared to endure winters in the Berkshires? Can her arthritis make peace with the stairs she has to climb if she wants to come and go from our house on Cliff Street? On the other hand, is living by herself in flat-and-warm Florida preferable to living in North Adams with Eddie and Howie? How to decide?

The current and presumably final verdict is that the pleasure of breakfasting every morning with her son and son-and-law trumps any competing comforts that the Sunshine State can offer. And considering what wonderful company Eddie and I are, can anyone question that her decision is the right one?

Below left: Eddie escorts his mom to her new home. Below right: Yikes! That staircase from street level to front yard suddenly reminds Evelyn of one reason she had thought life might be easier in hill-less West Palm Beach! Well, life is full of trade-offs, isn’t it?