Rich's Growing Cast of Characters

Rich's Growing Cast of Characters

My brother, Richard, has brought more into the life of an elderly gentleman quietly living out his last few years in the sleepy ocean town of Ocean Shores, Washington than a temporary housemate and friend. Maybe it's the simple charismatic magnetism of his beloved Benji-like mutt (Sweetheart) or maybe it's just Richard ...

But whatever, I now know of persons living up and down Falls of Clyde Loop SE in both directions and even beyond ... all the way into the downtown district of O.S. (the area of the town's four-way stop sign). Admittedly, the cute Asian lady to the left of our abode and the sweet lady who wheels her motorized wheelchair up and down the roads within a mile of our home--and her equally disabled husband--are sweet folks to be sure. As are just about every breed of dog and peculiar--at the very least, eclectic--male or female human--former marines with OCD, women who light up the entire Olympic Mountain Range with their decorated outdoor lighting--Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas--God can only guess what she does on the Fourth of July or (gasp) New Year's Eve, some woman who saves Greyhounds from lives as ill-treated racing dogs, retired ferry captains--and ... Do I dare go on?

Hell, I've met the entire North Beach Fire Department's hook and ladder battalion (plus EMT's ambulance), the Ocean Shores Police Department (all six squad cars, I think), the Public Utilities Department (PUD) inspectors, nameless amblers on the beach, some guy across the street with a pontoon aircraft carrier that he actually sails up and down the across-the-street creek (which I didn't even know existed), a former mayor, some genius Microsoft exec who has a summer home somewhere up the street, the Baptist pastor who's eager to save us both ... all entirely unknown to me--as people or even living mammals--before Richard came to live at 863 Falls of Clyde Loop in my upper loft.

Richard's cast of characters and their various problems, pets, illnesses, children/grandchildren/parents/ grandparents/etc. are suddenly a part of my life ... forever, I suspect.

Praise God for all of his blessings!