Stories by Margery Kenyon
A New Start
Mary Stevens had just moved into sheltered
housing. She was settling in well, although it had been a difficult
decision she was pleased she had finally made it.
The housing complex was not far from where Mary had lived for the past
fifty years. Her house was getting too much to cope with, the stairs
were very steep and she was not as able these days. Besides, she was
only using one bedroom and there were two bedrooms doing nothing. The
emptiness seemed to serve as a poignant reminder of when she and her
late husband had moved in all those years ago.
Mary and her husband had raised two children who were both married and
had grown up children of their own. David, the eldest, and James, the
younger, of her two sons now lived in London. They both asked her if she
would like to live with either of them. Mary appreciated the offer but
being a very independent woman she declined.
Mary had just spent her first Christmas in the accommodation and what a
lovely time she had. The community room was decorated beautifully and
all this beauty was culminated by the sight of the Christmas tree which
lit up the room. Her eyes moistened, beginning to fill with tears, as
she remembered the times she and her husband had spent together dressing
the Christmas tree and wrapping presents. These were happy memories and
thoughts, and suddenly Mary didn’t feel so alone anymore.
The warden who ran the sheltered housing was called Josie and did a
wonderful job making everyone happy and settled in. The community room
was so bright and each day was filled with activities for the residents.
One of the ladies was wonderful at knitting and kindly made a small gift
for everyone. This gesture was accompanied by the entertainment of
another resident named Albert, who sang old songs for the others. Mary
had enjoyed all the pleasing things that went on over the Christmas
period so much and was already looking forward to the outings they were
going on in the New Year.
Mary had just retired to her room when there was a knock on the door, it
was Josie. ‘How are you Mary? I was just coming to tell you that you
will be getting a new neighbour next door to you. A man called Tom
Lewis. I will introduce you to him when he moves in next week.’ ‘Tom
Lewis,’ thought Mary, ‘I used to know someone by that name many years
ago when I was a teenager.’ She thought it couldn’t possibly be the same
person but she was intrigued to find out as they had lost touch many
years ago.
The next morning Mary was busy in her kitchen when the telephone rang,
it was her daughter-in-law, Alison. ‘Hi mum, how are you? You are never
going to believe this, my Uncle Tom is moving in where you live.’ Mary
had not known Alison had an Uncle Tom, as she had never mentioned him.
The following Wednesday, Mary looked out of her window to see a small white
van, she thought this must be her new neighbour. There was a light knock
on her door. When she opened it she saw a man with grey hair and the
most twinkling blue eyes. They both looked at each other and the years
rolled back to when they were teenagers. ‘Hello Tom you haven't changed
much, I would have recognized those twinkling eyes anywhere.’ Tom
replied: ‘I would have recognized you too. You are still the same
beautiful girl I knew all those years ago.’
Before they both knew it a family get together had been arranged with
Mary’s son and daughter-in-law. Mary had a lovely feeling this was all
going to turn out wonderfully.
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