It was easy for me to get hours when I started working for the government at a nursing home. Especially not with someone like Mr. Reinhardt, I never thought I’d make real friends. I learned how to care for others for 18 months, and in return I got stories, advice, and friends I didn’t expect. After a few months, my old friend Leo called. The grandfather of the boy, Mr. Reinhardt, had fallen and wouldn’t move into a new house. Leo asked me to teach him how to take care of himself. I agreed,
Of course. Someone once told me that I was his fifth child. We went there every week for six months. Helped with everyday things. laughed. Listed to. After that, he was gone. He was killed by a stroke. Leo and I sat with other cousins who couldn’t wait for their windfall at the will reading. The lawyer instead opened a letter from Mr. Reinhardt. Mr. Reinhardt had kept track of visits, calls, and acts of kindness with points. Both of his boys, Victor and Stefan, had almost no points. Leo and I? Lots of them. Points earned would be used to split the estate. There was chaos, and then there were cases.
In the end, though, Mr. Reinhardt got what he wanted. “You were there when it mattered,” Leo told me one time. That made you a family. It wasn’t just money in Mr. Reinhardt’s scheme. It was about being there. Love. Time. There’s only one winner in the end. If we’re lucky, we can settle the bills before we leave.
