(Continued from July 13, 2010)
After my telephone conversation with Thea, I checked my e-mail. There was a message from Richard; I was not surprised by the prompt response. My young son usually got up early in the morning to have a small snack. Then, he would attend to his e-mail for an hour or so before going for a lengthy run. Triathletes need to exercise daily in preparation for a race.
As I had expected, Richard was pleased about my father-daughter relationship with Thea. “As far as I can determine at this moment, only good experiences will come from this development,” he wrote.
I concluded that Richard hadn’t as yet discussed the matter with Doug, my oldest son. That would probably happen within the next couple of hours.
The remainder of Richard’s message was devoted to going into detail about the lucky break that Alphonse had experienced. My young son hinted at the fact that such was a direct consequence of my relationship was Thea. “Up until now, the big guy had not been very lucky with his employment; his previous employers don’t seem to have noticed the tremendous skills that he possesses,” Richard wrote.
I tried to get hold of Thea to let her know about Richard’s e-mail, but I was only able to reach her mailbox. So, I left a message in which I explained the reason for my call.
Since I hadn’t retrieved my mail for a few days, I went down the hall toward the communal boxes. As I passed by Bob’s apartment, of which the entrance door was wide open, I was able to cast a glance into his living room. It was completely void of any furniture. Only a few similarly shaped boxes were neatly stacked in the middle of the room.
At that moment, a middle-aged lady came down the hall and turned into the apartment. Noticing my inquisitive look, she volunteered: “I am a real estate agent.”
“Has the owner already moved out?” I inquired.
“He had an accident at work and he will be in the hospital for at least the next six months. Since he was only partly insured, he needs some cash to pay the hospital bills. Therefore, he decided to sell his apartment. The equity that he has built up in the condo should take care of most of his medical debt.”
“What happened to his belongings?”
“His work buddy was kind enough to store them for him. Although Bob will be laid up for a lengthy period of time, he will apparently make a full recovery.”
(To be continued)