Arthur

Arthur

Arthur’s life improved dramatically after his wife died. I mean, he was sad and all that, but not as sad as he thought he should be. It troubled him somewhat. Arthur decided he'd better enrol in grief counselling, just in case he wasn’t doing it right.

The nice lady counsellor was very kind; she told him what things he should do, so when he went home, he did them. It didn’t take very long and then he went and read the newspaper.

‘It might help if you get a hobby,’ the Counsellor had advised him.

Well, where to begin? There was a list of things he’d put off doing because Philly didn’t want to join in. Arthur drove himself down to the local community centre and enrolled in LEAP, (Looney Elders Acting Peculiar, he told himself - then told himself off!). While he was there, he enrolled in the U3A and signed up for pottery and Tai-Chi without having a clue what it was, but it sounded exotic and life had become somewhat mundane of late. Finally, he made an appointment to join the Mens’ Shed get-together next Wednesday.

‘Get on with your life, make sure you don’t neglect yourself. Eat properly,’ the Counsellor had urged him.

So, Arthur went shopping. Usually he pushed the trolley around the supermarket, Philly loaded it, he paid for it all and stacked it in the car, she unpacked it and cooked it, and the whole process just worked somehow. Still, he’d been involved for years, so it shouldn’t be too difficult, he thought optimistically.

But today, as the supermarket doors slid aside, Aladdin’s Cave opened. The magic words were, ‘Ooooh, I wonder what this is?’

Philly had known exactly what to buy; what item, what brand, what size. Arthur had never noticed because it had all happened automatically. Pushing the shopping trolley had been something to do while his brain toddled off and thought random Arthur-thoughts. Now, Arthur zeroed in on products that he had never seen before and he collected them with all the zeal of a small boy collecting swap-cards.

He had trouble pushing the laden trolley to the car. It nearly tipped over as he negotiated the slope to the car park and a kind lady grabbed it just before it reached critical mass and the point of topple.

‘Thank you,’ said Arthur.

‘You’re welcome,’ she replied. ‘Looks like you’re having a party!’ She smiled and walked off before Arthur could make a reply.

‘A party?’ he said to no one in particular. ‘Oh dear, I suppose it does.’ Arthur wondered if he should feel guilty. He tried but couldn’t.

At home, there was nothing like enough room in the pantry for all his exciting purchases. He looked around for other options. Philly’s clothes had gone. The daughters-in-law had cleared out her clothes for him, so there was plenty of room in her closet…

‘Well, why not?’ thought Arthur. ‘A wardrobe by any other name will store things just as well!’ Arthur lugged in a bag of groceries and started unpacking and arranging things. It didn’t take long.

Arthur straightened up and admired his handiwork. He thought the shoe rack looked rather neat with tins on the bottom row and packets on the top. ‘Philly would approve of this,’ he mused. ‘Or maybe not. Where would she have put her shoes? Oh well, doesn’t matter now.’ He nodded contentedly and went and made himself a cup of instant cappuccino with extra chocolate topping.

‘Whoops! I forgot the teabags. Never mind… maybe next time.’ He smiled and licked his chocolatey lips.

‘The house might seem empty.’ The nice lady grief counsellor had cautioned him.

‘Not a chance,’ Arthur grimaced. ‘This place is busier than Flinders Street Station at 8am.’

On every flat surface, china ladies stood, curtsied, sniffed flowers, held cats, birds, baskets or just smiled their perfect pink and white smiles. Philly liked them, so every birthday and every mothers’ day, two more were added to the collection. Four each year! The daughters-in-law competed to produce the prettiest and outdo each other. Three figures twirled on top of a speaker box. Arthur wondered if he turned the volume up really high, would the vibrations make them dance? He shook his head sadly. Best not find out. He packed them all away in boxes. The room cleared and looked homely.

This time, Arthur felt rather guilty. What to do with them? He smiled – it was obvious! He wrote a note to the daughters-in-law. ‘Philly always wanted you to have these in loving memory of her. I hope that they will give you as much pleasure as they have given us over the years.’

‘I really shouldn’t be enjoying myself,’ Arthur remonstrated to himself. ‘What else should I do?’

‘You should get away more. Get out and about. Go on trips. Meet new people,’ the grief counsellor had advised.

Arthur drove down to the travel agent and booked himself onto a cheap mystery flight. ‘The grief counsellor told me to,’ he smiled at the lady behind the desk.

All in all, it looked like Arthur was going to cope.