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The sights and sounds of Christled with ginger and spice, and hout the house This was Harry Alderwood&039;s favorite titon, o, and he loved the way this town celebrated Christ could darove&039;s office, with its spindly artificial Christ for what he was sure would be bad news, Harry didn&039;t feel depressed This appointment would probably drain him for the rest of the day, and yet it see left for Dr Snellgrove to do His heart was giving out; it was as simple as that

Harry wasn&039;t afraid of death He often thought about it, especially with soHe&039;d seen death, witnessed it countless times on the beaches of Normandy and the battlefields of Europe in World War II He&039;d grieved when his own parents and his older brother, Ted, had passed away He wasn&039;t afraid, though Maybe he should be, but orry about the inevitable?

An exhausted young irl entertained by reading to her Looking at them, he found it hard to tell who needed the doctorfrorateful for the distance between them, since his own immune system was so weak

Harry knew this would almost certainly be his last Christmas, and that saddened hirown stronger as he grew older Which was a natural progression, he supposed He wondered if the angels celebrated Christured he&039;d find out soon enough Meanwhile, he was determined to make his last Christmas on Earth as special as he could for Rosalie Already he was thinking of what he ht do to show his wife of sixty-five years how ret

"Harry Alderwood"

He was caught up in his thoughts, and the nurse had to repeat his na woman named Kelly Shannon - or was it Shannon Kelly? - but he affectionately called her Nurse Ratched She didn&039;t see" He needed a ot that his legs weren&039;t as steady as they used to be Not long ago, he didn&039;t have a probleot so winded just standing, he could barely walk Growing old wasn&039;t for sissies, that was for sure

Using his cane for leverage, he slowly pulled hi mother across from him and carefully placed one foot in front of the other More andeven a few yards was a chore Still, he waved off Nurse Ratched&039;s offer of assistance He took several deep breaths and winked as he walked past her She s the holly brooch she wore on her crisp white uniform

He liked her attention to Christrateful that she didn&039;t rush him That was the problem with people these days They all see hirocery store or the parking lot Didn&039;t these folks realize he was o, he used to be just like theet so why he&039;d been in such a hurry

"Your color&039;s good this ," Nurse Ratched said as she held open the door of the exa roo better"

Harry never did understand why other people made assumptions about how he felt No one really wanted the truth Well, okaymaybe doctors and nurses did But when it came to friends and acquaintances, he wasn&039;t interested in discussing his health He accepted the likelihood of illness and the certainty of death, although he didn&039;t want to get there any sooner than necessary

"Have a chair" Dr Snellgrove&039;s nurse pointed to the one against the wall

It took Harry a long tiain

The nurse, chattering in a friendly manner, checked his blood pressure, which was normal, took his te the usual questions, left the roo the door behind her

Five rove appeared Harry still found it a bit disconcerting to have such a young doctor; Paul Snellgrove barely looked old enough to shave, let alonephysicians lately, both , in his opinion - even though their youth ree But these newly minted doctors tended to be idealistic, which he approved of, and they were up on all the latest technology, treatments and medications The only proble death as the ene illness, it was a friend Dr Snellgrove wasn&039;t like that, though Three or four years ago, he&039;d bought out Harry&039;s longtime physician&039;s practice Harry adrove asked, sitting on a stool and sliding it over so he was eye to eye with Harry

Harry rested both hands on his cane, one on top of the other "I&039;ain" This wasn&039;t a new coh Twice in the past week, he&039;d woken in the ht, unable to catch his breath Both tientle and easy, in his sleep or so for air and frightening poor Rosalie into a panic

The young doctor asked him a few more questions Harry already knew the probley but seemed pretty accurate, and sometimes it just took a brief pause The pacemaker was supposed to help and it&039;d worked fine for the most partuntil recently

"There&039;s not much I can do for you, Mr Alderwood, much as I hate to admit it," the physician told him His eyes were serious as they met Harry&039;s

Harry appreciated that the otherto tell him the truth He was ready to release his hold on life Al he still had to accoeh time to do it "No new pill?" He&039;d sed an entire pharmacy full noenty-six prescriptions at last count - not all at once, of course Thankfully, due to his years of overns

"No, Harry, I&039;hed He hadn&039;t really expected there would be

"Your heart&039;s failing," Dr Snellgrove said "You know that" Then he frowned "I see you&039;re using the cane instead of the walker"

Harry hated that blasted walker "It&039;s at the house"

"Harry, it&039;s Dece you need is a fracture"

Harry disrove&039;s concern

"I&039; toward the other uess of how ot"

"Why is it so important to know?" the doctor asked

"Because of Rosalie," Harry ets confused now and then, and I don&039;t think she&039;ll do well living on her own" Harry worried about his wife constantly Even their children didn&039;t realize how bad Rosalie&039;s rove reached for Harry&039;s chart and glanced at the top page "You&039;re still in your own hoht?"

Harry nodded He and Rosalie had raised their two beautiful daughters in that house on Walnut Avenue Lorraine and Donna now lived and worked in Seattle and had raised their families there One or the other came home at least once a month, sometimes more often; his sons-in-laere frequent visitors, as well Kenny, Lorraine&039;s husband, had strung all their Christht him and Rosalie a tree Oh, yes, Harry kne fortunate he was in his farandkids were adults the around his grandchildren did Harry&039;s heart

"I want tocomplex, before I die," he explained "It&039;s the best solution for her For everyone"