CarlHoliday

Thank you for your comment. It was interesting putting this story together drawing on people I've known who were debilitated by dementia, my own experience in being homeless in a big city, and the people who are there to help.

Thank you for your comment. Mental illness is something that can be very difficult to handle for children. You don't have a temperature, a Band-Aid won't cover the hurt, and other people sometimes come up with excuses for why you're not acting right. I felt it necessary to give Ed the awareness that he was mentally ill and if he was to progress in life, he needed to acquire the skills to do so.

Thirty-three days later, Uncle Ted was at the door to my room and said, “Hey, Ed! Ready to go home?” “Yes, I’m all packed, too,” I said. “You’re not wearing your brace. What’s with that?” “I can walk normal without it, so I don’t need it anymore. That is good, yes?” “That’s great. Need help with your bag?” “No, I’m okay.” We walked out of the room and Uncle Ted stayed with me as we walked through the rehab facility. We came to the lobby and I thought we were going t

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, Ed has been fun. I'm thinking of bringing him back at some point in his future.

Thanks for the comment, such as it was.

I opened my eyes, but it was as if I hadn’t done that. There was no light to perceive. I couldn’t tell whether I was alive or dead. Then I heard something familiar, something I had heard before. There was a periodic beep, an unvarying, steady beep. “Sir, you should go back to your room,” a voice said. “There is nothing you can do to help. Only time will tell whether what the surgeons did was enough.” “You don’t understand, Ed is so alone in the world, I’m all he’s got,” Uncle Ted said.

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I have to agree with you. Ed hasn't had an easy life so far. It's as if he was dealt from the bottom of the deck.

Thanks for the comment. A bit of clarification is in order. The cook is standing at the kitchen door. Mr. Streeter is a customer sitting at the counter. In fact, considering his history, Mr. Streeter is probably one of those customers who spends a majority of his days sitting at the counter of a restaurant known for serving questionable meals.

Thanks for the comment. Since I have a penchant for killing characters, we can only hope no one leaves the scene of the accident arm in arm with Death.

We had breakfast at that restaurant next to the motel and I took my morning medications. I made certain that my anti-panic pills were with me before we left Caldwell, Idaho. Today was going to be exciting because the plan was whatever time it was at night we were going to stop only at the ranch. On the other hand, most of the trip was going to be boring, too. When I looked at the map of Idaho to memorize it, I realized I only needed to remember the southern part, which supposedly was the flat pa

Thanks for the comment. The man in the bookstore will return in the last chapter. As far as Uncle Ted being gay? In his backstory, Ted did drop out of a New England prep school in his senior year, and then ended up in New York City where he worked as a hustler in the Village. But that was more about survival, than being outright gay. As far as the time issue, you have to remember Ed's frame of mind within his mental illness. The world is out to get him. If things are out of ordinary just a little bit, he's immediately thinking about having to take an anti-panic pill. Why is Uncle Ted staying so long in the bookstore? He's talking to the man in the bookstore who is from Wyoming. Uncle Ted is from Wyoming. Maybe they have a mutual friend.

Thanks for the comment. Glad to be of service in your remembrances of home. As far as Uncle Ted's place in the story, he'll play a prominent role in Ed's life in the future.

I think it was because of my excitement in going to Wyoming that caused me to keep waking up through the night. Finally, the call to get up for the morning came and my excitement had not abated, but I was very tired from being awake so much. Time dragged as I showered, shaved, brushed my teeth, dressed in clothes that I thought might be appropriate for wearing while going to Wyoming. I went out to the dayroom and most of the other patients were already in line for breakfast. I went over and

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, psych aides can be a pain sometimes, though there are a few who take their job as something more than just a job. As far as his siblings go, E3 promised to bring Erika and Emmett with him when he came over on the weekends to take Ed shopping. Unfortunately, those visits never occurred before Ed went to New Zealand and ended up in the psych ward. Soon after that E3 had his hemorrhages and died. That left Syl in charge of who saw Ed and we know how that turned out.

It was my next to last morning in the psych ward at North Park General as I walked out of the little laundry room after putting my clothes in the dryer. I looked around the dayroom and saw there weren’t any empty tables. That meant sharing a table with someone, but even that looked iffy because as hard as I looked there was only one table with one person and that was that crazy lady who was knitting without needles (which could be used as weapons) or yarn (which could be used as a weapon). I thi

Thanks for the comment. Yes, Ed has had a hard life, but the story isn't over. I suppose adding a bit of backstory to satisfy the interest of another reader may have given the impression the story is over, but there are a few more chapters in Ed's life. After all, we do need to find out if he's learns how to ride a horse.

Thanks for your comment. Back in the early stages of this story's development it was multi-POV. You would have seen E3's ambivalence to Syl's treatment of Ed more clearly. For what it's worth, Syl comes from old-money Philadelphia. Whereas E3 comes from Pacific Northwest commercial salmon fishermen hard-earned money, so he may have been getting financial support from Syl's father. When E3 died, Syl called her father in Philadelphia not knowing what else to do. He suggested she call her brother Ted in Wyoming. She was reluctant because he was, in her eyes, the epitome of a worthless cowboy. He had dropped out of a prestigious New England prep school and ended up in Greenwich Village where he was picked up by a rancher from Wyoming who was in New York to deliver a champion-bloodline Quarter Horse. Ted comes to North Park to help Syl with E3's funeral and she dresses him down because in her eyes he's wearing cowboy clothes only a child would wear. Ted is now managing the Wyoming ranch and dresses in formal Western attire. Speaking of the ranch, it's big with over 19,000 acres and like a lot of places in Wyoming in the middle of nowhere. With Ted in town, Syl sees her chance to be rid of Ed for good. She willingly and legally transfers her parental rights to Ted.

I sat in the dayroom staring at nothing in particular. I was definitely not staring at any of the other patients because I’d learned that was offensive to some of the more psychotic ones. Although my mind was mostly empty from all the electroconvulsive treatments I’d been through since coming to this psych ward, there were stray thoughts that kept coming up that didn’t seem to make a bit of sense because for some reason they didn’t connect to other memories. One of the memories was of being some

I opened my eyes and looked around. Right off I knew I wasn’t in my bedroom in Raurimu. Then I noticed, once again, I was wearing one of those hospital gowns that are open at the back. Plus, my wrists were, once again, strapped to the bed, but the bed wasn’t a hospital bed. The strange thing was the room, it didn’t look like a hospital room, which made me wonder where I was, but, more importantly, why was I in such a place strapped to a bed that wasn’t a hospital bed while I was wearing a hospit

Thanks for the comment. Yes, it seems like Eddie's never going to win at anything. He tells Frankie his parents will see him as a threat to their desire for grandchildren, while at the same time he knows Frankie only wants him as non-sexual friend. Yet it might be possible Eddie doesn't fully accept Frankie's agreement not to kiss him or have sex. Eddie's reaction to E3's suggestion he study psychology in college may be connected to Perry's comment that Charles was fucking Frankie. The way Eddie's confused mind works he probably sees Charles as a threat because he's afraid Charles may try to fuck him.

Thanks for the comment. Yes, Eddie certainly has a roller coaster life. One can only hope the valleys don't become so deep he can't climb out, or the hills are impossible to climb.

“I want you to meet my parents,” Frankie said as we walked to the elevators in the apartment parking garage. “I don’t know if I should,” I said. “Why not?” “I’m younger than you. They probably won’t like that.” “What are you like talking about?” Frankie asked as we walked into an elevator. “They are probably looking for you to bring home a woman around your age,” I said as I pushed the 11 button. “They will see me as a threat to their desires for grandchildren.” “Wh

Thanks for the comment. Yes, Frank is a bit much. Yet is is willing to stay friends with Eddie, if only in a nonsexual manner.

Thanks for the comment. I've tried to come up with a good response to your comment, but I'd just spoil it for everyone else.

It was nearly five o’clock before Frankie and I left Charles’ apartment. Frankie asked if I wanted to stop at Clark’s at North Park Mall for dinner as we were walking to Frankie’s Ford Falcon. I told him I didn’t have enough money and he said that was okay. I said if he didn’t mind then it was okay with me if we went to Clark’s for dinner. Maybe I answered the wrong way because Frankie stopped walking and I didn’t notice right away. I finally noticed he wasn’t with me, I stopped walking and turn