TIME AND TIDE
| Ron Podell |
Drama |
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| Synopsis |
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After losing
her husband and suffering a heart attack, widow Harriet Sealy, 72, lives
with her daughter, Jennifer, and her family. Faced with the prospect of
being forced into a nursing home, Harriet has an emotional confrontation
with her daughter that is difficult for both of them. Not wanting to see her daughter suffer for a decision that she knows is largely her son-inlaw’s, Harriet agrees to go to a nursing home. But only on one condition. Harriet must first be allowed to go on a cruise she and her late husband planned for in retirement after they sold the family candy store. Jennifer agrees and Harriet takes her cruise. Only it ends up being longer than a week. It goes on for more than three months as Harriet realizes she can live a much better quality of life on a cruise ship than she ever could in a nursing home. Rather than look at the same four walls every day and live with people worse off than she, Harriet always meets happy people on vacation. And the faces change every couple of weeks. She has access to exercise facilities, including the ship’s deck for walking, a swimming pool and a sauna. She gets to indulge in world-class dining, professional entertainment and see the world — all at a more affordable price and a healthier style of living than a nursing home could ever offer. And why not, given Harriet continues to have ongoing arguments over the phone with her daughter regarding her future living arrangements. After one particularly nasty argument, Harriet converses over dinner one evening with two retirees on their first cruise who mistake her for the ship’s owner, Harriet drinks and enjoys herself, running down the list of advantages of thriving on a cruise ship versus the alternative of a staid nursing home. The couple is impressed when Harriet declares she plans to cruise for the rest of her life. However, Harriet sees reminders of family missed and realizes the best vacation in the world doesn’t replace the bonds of blood.
Copyright 2008 Ron Podell |
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